


The Mermaid of Lake Altea

by flukeloops



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cryptid Hunting, Happy Ending, Implied Hance, M/M, PINING KEITH, Platonic Kidge, Sheith Big Bang 2017, Summer Camp, aliens? maybe, mermaid, mythical creatures, no seriously real mermaids, seriously pining keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 12:43:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11921151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flukeloops/pseuds/flukeloops
Summary: The Mermaid of Lake Altea has been a story passed from camper to camper for almost ten years. It's the tale of a lonely young mermaid who gets rejected by her crush when they find out she has fins. When camp counselor Keith hears it, he becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth. While projecting his own loneliness on the mermaid, he also tries to uncover his handsome, co-counselor, Shiro. Keith has fallen hard and fast for him, but there's something mysterious about Shiro as well. What's his connection to the mermaid? Will Keith's quest for a mythical creature sabotage his quest to get with Shiro?





	1. The Legend Begins

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost, a HUGE thank you to **Reezer** (@REEZETTO on twitter and http://reezetto.tumblr.com/ on tumblr) who drew all the AMAZING art for this fic. It was such a gift and joy to see my story in full color!  
>  Another big thanks to **Xyriath** for beta-ing this beautiful baby of mine. (Check out her work right here on AO3 if you like some good Sheith!)  
>  It was so much fun sharing this story with you two and I'm really excited to share it with the rest of the world!  
>  **Actual Author's Note** As a sidenote, all the counselor's ages are 18+, including Pidge. Not for any shippy reasons because I don't actually care, but it's just more convenient for storytelling purposes.  
>  Anyway Enjoy!

Keith shifted his weight, flexing his fingers on the clipboard in his hands as, little by little, campers filed onto the property by the busload. Keith remembered that sort of excitement. He hadn’t spent as many summers here as some of the other staff members, but he had a handful of fond memories here at Camp Arus. It was nice to get out of the house of whichever foster family thought they could “fix” him that year, to have a few weeks to pretend he didn’t have so much weighing on him. It was no wonder he felt so relaxed here now. Sure, it was a job, but it was basically a vacation. He just had to make sure a handful of preteens didn’t die for a summer. By that age, they were pretty self sufficient anyway. At least, Keith had been.

As campers lined up, Keith checked them off one by one and directed them to Shiro, who gave them their bunk assignments. Keith couldn’t help but steal the occasional glance at him. Shiro had been coming to this camp for years and spent most of his time with the camp director’s daughter, Allura; he was basically family to them. The twangs of jealousy that thought often brought Keith was more than enough to let him know just how bad he had it for his co-worker.

Before camp was open to the kids, all staff spent a week in training to get everything ready for their arrival. During that time, Keith usually kept to himself, but now he wished he hadn’t. Everyone had just about buddied up and he wasn’t sure where he really belonged, let alone who he’d be sharing a camper unit with.

Once all the campers had checked in, they piled their things in the lodge near the parking lot for the staff to take to the individual cabin units later that night. Keith turned and, as casually as possible, made his way over to Shiro, who had taken a seat on the surface of a picnic table as he double checked that everyone had received their bunk assignment.

Keith took a second to take in Shiro’s appearance. A patch of his hair had gone prematurely white in front, the soft fringe hanging over his scarred nose. He remembered Shiro mentioning something about a genetic condition. Shiro seemed to sense Keith’s presence, because he looked up at him with a polite smile of recognition.

“Hey, Keith!” he greeted with the same level of enthusiasm he reserved for close friends and the cute cat that lived on the grounds. Keith responded with an automatic smile.

“I was wondering where my bunk is or… even who I’m sharing a unit with.” Keith said. Really, as long as it wasn’t that really noisy boy he would be happy. Lance, was it?

“Let’s see.” Shiro flipped through the pages on his clipboard, which gave Keith another opportunity to check out the curiously advanced robotic prosthesis that replaced Shiro’s right arm. Rumor had it that Alfor paid for him to have the best. It moved and stretched just like a real hand and arm, seeming to fit very comfortably against his muscular bicep. Keith wondered if he lost his arm or had been born without it. Could Shiro even remove it?

Shiro’s eyebrows lifted, a look of delighted surprise on his face as he looked back up. Keith quickly looked away from the arm and found himself locked onto his warm grey eyes.

“Lucky me! We’re sharing a unit. So we’re going to be... “ Shiro ran his finger down a chart. “In Olkari with Allura and Pidge’s kids. That’s a nice mix. I think we’ll have fun.”

Keith took a few moments to figure out if Shiro was being sarcastic or not. Keith barely talked prior to this. How could Shiro be excited to bunk with him? Wait. Shiro was bunking with him? His chest lifted.

“Oh!” Keith stammered, “Great. Yeah, cool.” He loosened his grip on his own clipboard when he realized he was squeezing it, flexing his hands to get more blood to his fingertips. “I’m gunna… I’ll get my stuff.”

Shiro laughed. “Slow down! The whole camp is going to have a fire together before they send us off so everyone can get to know each other.”

“Right.”

Shiro and Keith combined their paperwork and left it in Alfor’s office before making their way to the large fire circle that sat in the center of camp. Alfor was already in the middle of a welcome speech as the two sought out Allura and Pidge. They were already sitting together, so they must have already known their assignments. Shiro and Allura exchanged a wave as Keith sat down next to Pidge. There was something about Pidge he liked. At first she came off as a little distant and weird, but so did Keith. Perhaps he saw a kindred spirit in her.

By the time Alfor had finished going over all the rules and safety precautions, night had fallen. Now was the perfect time for telling stories.

“I know just the one,” Pidge announced as she stood up and made her way to the center of the ring.

“Here it comes,” Shiro said through a chuckle.

“Please don’t tell the one I think you’re going to tell,” Allura pleaded weakly. “Not the M—”   


“The Mermaid of Lake Altea!” Pidge interrupted, quickly catching the attention of the campers.

There was a soft, tired moan from the direction of Allura. Pidge continued.

“Ten years ago, a young girl was staying at this very camp. This girl was very special because she had a secret. When the water touched her legs, they transformed into a beautiful fish tail. Over the summer, she had to hide this secret because she knew no one would understand. So, she stayed quiet. Stayed out of everyone’s way until one day, a boy confessed his love for her. At first she rejected him out of surprise, but the boy was patient. Now that she knew someone was interested in her, she opened her heart to the idea of love. She got to know the boy and eventually fell in love with him too.

“One day, she decided to tell him she loved him too, but she had to tell him her secret before they got any closer. She took him out to the lake and let the water turn her into the gorgeous mermaid that she was. Proud of her scales, she hoped that he would love them too. The boy’s face twisted into one of disgust and he told her that they were ugly! He called her a freak and ran away.

“Filled with sadness and despair, the mermaid cried until she didn’t have any tears left. She dove into the lake and refused to leave. Ever since, people say that at night, you can see her in the lake. If you’re still and quiet, you’ll catch her peeking out of the water before diving out of sight, her fins splashing under the water.”

The camp had gone quiet, and Keith was entranced. He wanted a happy ending for the mermaid. He wanted to meet her to tell her he didn’t think she was ugly. Just so she knew. He clapped softly along with the rest of the camp once Pidge’s story was done and glanced at Shiro for his reaction. It seemed he’d heard Pidge tell this story before, but he looked a little lost in thought. Maybe he would want to try and find the mermaid with him? That sounded silly, even in Keith’s head. He doubted Shiro would want to chase some kid’s tale.

“Do you think it’s true?” Keith asked Pidge as she sat back down between him and Allura. The camp went back to a blanket of chatter.

“It’s not true,” Allura interrupted, rolling her eyes a little. “The real story is that a group of kids snuck out after lights out to go swimming, saw a big fish that frightened them, and built a story behind it over the summer.”

“It’s true! I saw her!” Pidge insisted. She put her hand up to block Allura’s face from view, which earned her a small huff from her co-counselor. Keith’s eyes lit up.

“I want to see her,” he said. By now, a small group of campers had formed in front of Pidge.   


“Can we go out and look for her some time?” a little girl asked.

“It was just a story, sweetheart,” Allura assured in a more gentle tone. “It’s a little too dangerous to take the lake trail at night. You don’t know what kind of animals could be crawling around looking for food.” She turned a stern gaze to Keith and Pidge as she spoke next. “And we’re not going to put the campers’ lives at risk over a story.”

Which Keith took as permission to go without campers. He exchanged a look with Pidge. Good, she had come to the same conclusion he had.

Once dinner had wrapped up and the fire died down, everyone took their packs and gear and made their trek up the path to the camping units. Keith was looking forward to staying in the small cabins. They didn't look like much, but they were cozy and he liked the sound of rain on the roof in the morning.

Inside, the cabins had room for four cots and a small cubby to store things like flashlights, first aid, and other small personal effects. Allura and Pidge had already set up their cots, taking the two in front.

As the girls got their campers settled, Keith made up his cot for sleeping. When he glanced over, he could see Shiro’s cot across the cabin from his, and he briefly imagined them pushed together.  Keith clamped down on the thoughts, chastising himself to calm down about his crush. . It was getting silly. Instead, he brought up the mermaid again.

“Do you think Pidge’s story was real?” Keith asked casually as he unrolled his sleeping bag.

“Oh Pidge just loves stories like that.” Shiro took a seat on his own cot and bent to untie his hiking boots. “I’ve never seen any mermaids, but to be fair, I’ve never looked.” His gaze was intent on those shoelaces. Did he know something?

“Allura seems pretty defensive over the whole story,” Keith said through a small pout, earning him a short laugh from Shiro.

“You think Allura’s a mermaid?” he asked, meeting Keith’s face with a grin. Keith suddenly felt a little sheepish.

“I’m just saying she’s quick to shut the story down.”

“Allura can be a worry wart at times. She just doesn’t want anyone to get hurt again. The lake is kinda dangerous at night,” Shiro explained as he tapped his prosthesis with the tips of his fingers.

Keith nodded slowly in realization. That made sense.

\--

That morning at breakfast, Keith felt great. Sleeping outdoors, with the consistent chirps and trills from the wildlife, left him feeling more relaxed than he had in ages. There were no sirens and cars zooming by to disrupt his rest. He wasn’t afraid of what could be out there. He had always been more afraid of other humans, and when the only ones he had near were either children or his own friends, the chances of danger significantly decreased.

Shiro, on the other hand, looked groggy. Maybe it had been the excitement of the first day of camp that kept him up. When they got to the mess hall, Keith took pity on him and told him to sit at the staff table while he led the unit through the buffet line. The sausage links and hash browns that Hunk and Lance cheerfully served smelled amazing, and with one whiff, Keith realized how ravenous he felt. Once the campers had gone through, he made himself and Shiro up a plate and brought it to the staff table. Allura was already sitting next to him, having brought him a large mug of coffee. Keith got the impression that this wasn’t the first rough morning Shiro had had recently. He set the plate of food in front of Shiro, and he instantly perked up.

“Keith, you’re wonderful!” Shiro’s voice cracked tiredly, but his smile was so sweet and genuine that Keith was afraid his knees would give out. He sat down across from Shiro and Allura, partially so he could see Shiro’s adorable face as he enjoyed breakfast. Almost as soon as his butt reached the wooden bench, a small weight zoomed in next to him, dumping an armload of books and binders onto the table. Keith and Allura jumped in alarm. Shiro barely looked up from cutting his sausage link as Pidge caught her breath.

“Did you run all the way back to your bunk for those?” Allura asked, shaking her head slowly. The binders all seemed to be put together by Pidge. The topmost one displaying the title  _ Cryptid Sightings of the Northeast. _

“Keith, I’m so glad you liked my story.” Pidge ignored Allura to address him. Keith perked up a little.

“Yeah. Do you have more information or something?”

He received a hearty laugh in reply.“Do I?” She plunked one of the binders in front of Keith called  _ Misc Supernatural/Mermaid of Lake Altea.  _ “I’ve been collecting data on this story since I first heard it, but I’ve never met anyone who was as interested in it as me.”

“Wow…” Keith paged through the binder, taking in the tons of photos of strange rocks, lights, distant animals, and some things that seemed too indistinguishable to make out. Each photo had a small data sheet for when it was taken, a description of what it was, and any information Pidge had gathered about it. Some of the photos had longer descriptions than others.

“Oh, here…” Pidge flicked the pages until it landed on the  _ Mermaid of Lake Altea _ title page. Keith curiously turned the page to a handful of blurry photos. All of them were a little too dark to really make out, and almost all of them had some form of motion blur. There wasn’t much action a drugstore disposable camera could capture. The photos all appeared to be of the lake’s surface, except for one: a picture of the rocky outcropping that lead into a cave on the lake. Sitting on one of the rocks was the silhouette of a humanoid figure whose form very distinctly faded into something more aquatic, the most obvious feature being the pair of flukes dangling over the water’s surface. Keith couldn’t imagine that this was anything but a mermaid.

Allura leaned over the table to get a better look at the photos. Her brow crinkled as she snatched the book from Keith to look closer. She looked as she nudged Shiro’s shoulder. He jerked awake and leaned in to look at the photos.

“Oh, those are old…” he mumbled sleepily. Allura looked at him as if he’d just lit himself on fire. Sensing her hostility, he woke up a bit more and then pointed at the time stamp on the photo itself showing that they were all from about 7 years ago.   


“Do you think they’re real?” Keith asked, sitting up to look at them a little better.

“What are we looking at?” Hunk asked as he and Lance sat down at the table next to Allura.

“Blurry pictures of  _ nothing, _ ” Allura told him. Pidge huffed and dragged the binder back for Hunk to see properly.

“All these just look like blobs,” Hunk mumbled, leaning in to get a closer look. He paused on the last one. “Well, this one seems legit, but… I dunno, maybe it’s a plant or something in the foreground.”

“That’s exactly what it is,” Allura confirmed, tracing her finger over the curve of what looked like a mermaid tail. “See? That’s growing from the water beneath. They’re not fins, but wide leaves.”

“Plants like that don’t grow in lakes,” Pidge said with a huff.

“She looks sad in that picture,” Lance pointed out. “I wonder how old she is now.” His voice curved upward in interest. Pidge stole the binder back from him so that Keith could look at it. While Hunk and Lance discussed the logistics of romance with a mermaid, Keith couldn’t help but realize Lance had a point: she was holding herself slightly hunched as if her own loneliness was holding her down. Now he really wanted to see her. 

“Has anyone seen her recently?” Keith asked, earning an instant head shake from Pidge.

“Not in a few years. Either she’s gone or she just got more careful about it.”

Keith nodded in understanding. That just made him want to find her more.


	2. Coran in the Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Pidge go hunting for the mermaid on their own and see much more than they bargained for. Shiro shows Keith how to make a friendship bracelet.

Keith was awoken in the middle of the night by an incredibly bright light, groaning in confusion until he was quickly shushed. The light moved away from his eyes, and Pidge’s face appeared behind the greenish spots he was now trying to clear from his eyes. Flashlight in hand and curly ginger hair pulled into a small ponytail, she pulled Keith insistently into a sitting position. He rubbed his face, trying to wipe away his disorientation.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered, pulling his legs out of his sleeping bag and into his boots.

“Let’s see if we can spot us a mermaid,” Pidge replied eagerly. “Now’s the perfect time. This is when I saw her the first time.”

Keith responded with a tired grunt. When he decided he wanted to look for the mermaid, he wasn’t thinking about how much sleep this would cost him. Two equally insistent parts warred within him: the part that wanted to rest, and the part of him that _really_ wanted to see a mermaid. It was Keith’s inability to step down from a challenge that finally pushed him out of the cot.

Once Keith was ready, they made their way to the trail that lead to the lake. It wasn’t a long trail, but it had some difficult terrain: no wonder Allura didn’t want anyone to go out at night.

“Did you go to this camp when you were little?” Keith asked as they walked. Pidge nodded.

“We were in a unit together once, don’t you remember?” She looked up at him quizzically. Keith blinked.  Were they?

“I don’t remember,” he admitted, nudging a big rock aside as they walked. “I’m sorry, Pidge. It must have been one of those transition years or something.”

“Oh, we were both really little. I didn’t think you’d remember.”

“I’m sorry,” Keith repeated, now feeling a little guilty. “I mean, now that you mention it…”

“Oh no. I don’t want your pity memories, mister,” Pidge teased.

“I’m serious! My childhood wasn’t super great, so fond recollections aren’t really my specialty.”

Pidge nodded in understanding. “Anyway, how much do you know about mermaids?”

Keith shrugged. “Half woman, half fish. I remember reading somewhere that they don’t have souls, but they’re immortal or something.”

“I’ve heard that one too. Do you really think they don’t have souls?”

“Depends if you believe in souls. I like to believe they exist, so I’d also like to believe mermaids have them too. If she had her heart broken, then she had to have a heart in the first place.”

“That’s true. I’ve also heard the myth that mermaids can turn human on dry land. It’s in a lot of movies and books and stuff.”

Keith perked an eyebrow and glanced to the side, studying Pidge. He remembered that being a key part of Pidge’s story. “You sound like you’re going somewhere with this.”

“Uh huh!” Pidge nodded, “I think the mermaid is someone at this camp.”

“Someone you have in mind?”

“I think, if it’s anyone, it— _What is that_?!” Pidge stopped at the mouth of the trail to see the lake.

She pointed to the humanoid figure practically bursting out of the water. There was something strangely majestic about it, but it didn’t take long to see the moon reflecting off pale bare skin. This was no mermaid, but a man. A very human, very naked, ginger-haired man they quickly recognized as the camp’s nurse, Coran. He stood in the water in all his glory and turned a very alarmed eye to them as Keith felt his body lock up in a startle. Coran yelped in surprise, and Keith and Pidge shouted back in alarm. The two counselors whirled around to turn away from him, panting, Keith’s hands covering his face in humiliation.

“Wh—What are you two doing out here?” Coran’s shrill voice beat against their backs as they flinched. Alfor was going to hear about this. So would Allura.

“We’re sorry!” Pidge squeaked.

“Very sorry, trust us.” Keith confirmed, voice heavy with regret.

They could hear Coran trudge up onto the bank and reach for his clothes.

“You meant no harm.” Coran’s voice was noticeably calmer now that he wasn’t scared out of his skin. Keith was desperately trying to unsee what he had just seen by wondering what Shiro looked like bursting out of the water naked. “But you two shouldn’t be out and about at night, even as counselors. I’d say you deserve what you saw, and now you know that night time is when I enjoy the lake.”

Coran’s hands rested on their shoulders, making them jump. Coran laughed as Keith chanced a peek back. The nurse was now clothed again, though still very wet. Keith wasn’t quite comfortable with how closely the clothing clung, but he’d take what he could get.

“Let’s head back,” Coran insisted, leading the way. Keith and Pidge exchanged a defeated look, but they weren’t going to find anything anyway. With a small sigh, Pidge went on after him, followed by Keith. Well, Coran _definitely_ had human legs when in the water. Between staff and campers, that narrowed it down to about 300 possibilities. Great.

—

“You deserved what you got,” Allura’s voice drilled into Keith and Pidge the next morning at breakfast. “You’re both adults, so I’m not going to scold you, but that was irresponsible and…”

Her words faded into the rest of the background noise as Keith zoned out. Allura’s fear only cemented their theory in his mind: she really, really didn’t want them going to that lake at night. Keith picked at his food as he yawned and waited for her to wear down; she seemed to be on her way there by the time Hunk and Lance joined them at the table.

“What happened at the lake last night?” Lance asked, his worried expression suggesting he thought that it had been something horrible. Pidge let out a snort.

“We found out Coran goes for nightly swims,” she explained wearily, making Hunk giggle.

“Wait, like...” Hunk leaned in, whispering, “ _naked swims?_ ”

Pidge nodded, turning as green as her hoodie.

“So you guys didn’t get to see a mermaid?” Lance seemed like he wanted to get off the subject of Coran as quickly as possible.

“Yeah, Lance,” Keith said in a deadpan. “She was dancing with Coran in the moonlight.”

Shiro quietly chuckled from his corner of the table, catching Keith’s attention. He hadn’t seen him sit down.

“Well, I definitely wanna see a mermaid,” Lance grumbled before shoveling half a waffle in his mouth.

“Yeah, Allura, is it okay if we all go together?” Hunk asked. “We’ll be able to keep each other safe.”

“Well.” Allura let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s not against the rules. I just don’t…” She sighed again, looking to Shiro for some kind of backup.

“I wanna see a mermaid too,” Shiro spoke up. “I’ll make sure everyone is okay.”

Allura seemed to calm a little at that, though she still didn’t look too pleased as she plopped back down onto her chair. “I’ll make sure Coran stays in for the night,” she said in defeat. The staff table cheered.

\--

After breakfast, Shiro made a pit stop at the arts and crafts pavilion for some supplies before they led their unit to a field shaded by trees along its border. They sat everyone on the ground in a nice cool area, and Shiro popped open the plastic container of embroidery floss, revealing a rainbow of colors to choose from. Shiro and Keith sat down at the head of the group and let the children pick out three colors. Shiro grabbed what was left and cut a length of each color. He handed some to Keith before passing around the scissors for everyone to cut their thread.

“Today, we’re going to learn how to make friendship bracelets. Since it’s still the beginning of camp, you can give it to your best friend or you can give it to someone you’d like to get to know better. It’s like... a promise to be good friends,” Shiro explained, passing around a baggy of safety pins. He tied his own thread to the pin and pinned it to the cuff of his shorts to hold it steady as he wove his bracelet. Keith followed along with the campers. Lastly, he passed around a small container of different kinds of beads, encouraging campers to pick just a few and not to go overboard. Once everyone had what they wanted, Shiro took some for himself, then let Keith choose. Some vibrant purple beads caught his eye, and he decided they would look good with his black thread. He couldn’t help but peek at what Shiro picked. Red thread with black beads. Those colors sure looked nice together.

Over the next few minutes, Shiro showed the campers and Keith how to weave the bracelets, taking time to make sure they knew how to incorporate their beads. Despite the prosthetic arm, Shiro was doing a great job of weaving. The fingers moved more quickly than his human fingers and they precisely flicked strand over strand. Keith caught himself staring, but he didn’t stop as loop after loop sat snug against one another in seconds. Like a human loom, Keith could see that Shiro had woven a chain of hearts down the band.  Over the next few minutes, Shiro explained a more simple weave to the kids who were just starting to learn. Now that the campers had the hang of things, they took their supplies and grouped up together.

“So, how do you like camp so far?” Shiro asked, laughing as he added, “apart from your little discovery about Coran.”

“It wasn’t little, that’s the thing,” Keith joked, maintaining his usual near monotone. Shiro burst out laughing, which made Keith grin automatically.

“I’m having fun,” Keith assured him, happy to keep his focus on a bracelet instead of where on Shiro’s beautiful face he could look without seeming creepy. “It’s quiet and relaxing here. Our unit seems good, too.”

Shiro nodded in agreement. “It’s nice to get away. I don’t connect with many people in the city.”

“A city boy huh?”

“Yeah, I used to live out…” Shiro stopped, but Keith noticed he’d dropped a bead and was probably distracted by that. “Uh, I lived out in this area. I didn’t really have a family till Alfor took me in.”

“You were a foster kid too?” Keith perked up a little.

“Sort of! Yeah, I guess I was.” Shiro quickly moved the conversation along. “I wasn’t really in the system, but I hopped from family to family. Really anyone who would let me stay a few weeks or months.” His expression turned a little sheepish, “I actually snuck onto the camp grounds and tried to blend in with the other campers, but Alfor noticed right away. He let me stay because it was food and shelter for me while he figured out how to adopt me.”

“So you and Allura are sort of siblings.” Keith felt a bit of relief. That’s why they were so close. Still, part of Keith still envied their bond.

Over the hill, a quiet roll of thunder filled the brief silence. Keith felt Shiro jump in surprise next to him and looked up at him curiously. Was Shiro afraid of thunder? If he was, he hoped it wasn’t because of anything traumatic. It seemed like Shiro had been on his own for most of his childhood. He couldn’t help but wonder how he survived with such a cheerful disposition. Keith had begun to see the small cracks in his co-counselor and he wasn’t sure how many there were. What if Shiro was too broken to be fully repaired? Keith imagined a future where Shiro let him see all his cracks. Even if he couldn’t fix them, he could still support him. If he could fill just one, he would be happy.

As clouds rolled in, Keith reached down to pick up one last bead when a flat black one caught his eye. It was smooth, curved into a near teardrop shape, and iridescent, fading into a pale lavender when the light hit it. Though the beauty of the bead left him breathless, more compelling was its familiarity, stirring something in him that was not quite deja vu. Shiro glanced over to see what Keith was staring at and immediately got to his feet.

“Let’s get the kids to shelter. We can wait out the rain there,” he said with a frown at the sky.

Keith looked up at him and nodded. He got up and tucked the bead into his pocket before popping the lid back onto the bead container.

Once they got the campers all cleaned up, they led them back toward the cabin unit, sending them to their bunks to finish their bracelets and for a little rest and free time. Shiro and Keith returned to the staff cabin and opened the shutters to let light in. Just in time, the rain turned from a gentle sprinkle to a full downpour. Keith let out a relaxed sigh as the steady rain on the roof and approaching thunder calmed him, feeling muscles release that he didn’t realize were tight. He sat down on his cot and pulled his partial friendship bracelet out of his pocket, along with the beautiful black bead. He threaded it on and continued to weave around it.

While he worked, he felt Shiro’s weight next to him dip the bed as he sat down. He peered over to see that Shiro had finished his bracelet. The red and black thread complemented  the beads he’d picked out, and of course he had kept the weaving tight and even.

“May I?” Shiro asked as he gently reached for Keith’s right wrist. Keith took a second to work up the courage to scoot a little closer to the boy raising his heart rate. Slowly, he surrendered his arm and smiled.

“For me?” Keith desperately wished he could control the rising temperature and redness of his face and ears, but it was no use as Shiro carefully tied the bracelet around his wrist.

“You seem to wear a lot of red, so it suits you.” Shiro explained in a gentle tone as he tied, letting go once it was tied securely. Keith twisted his hand to see it better.

“It’s really nice. Thank you.” Keith replied almost a bit too softly to hear. On a mission to find out his real feelings about Allura, he casually added, “but shouldn’t you give this to your crush?”

Shiro shifted to get up, but not before moving in closer, so close that their knees touched as he rested his hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“Good idea,” he said with a suave upturn to his voice before he pushed himself from the cot and walked back to his own bunk, beginning to clean up a little. Keith gripped the bracelet he was working on very tightly until the beads dug into his hands. With a fast beating heart, he continued work on his friendship bracelet.


	3. The Stakeout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith, Pidge, Shiro, Lance, and Hunk meet up for a good old-fashioned stakeout on the lake. Binoculars, snacks, and campfire songs. Will they see a mermaid? Someone will.

Once the rain let up, Shiro stepped out to gather the unit together and get them ready to head down the the mess hall for dinner. Keith had finished his friendship bracelet and debated a few different ways to present it to Shiro. They’d just had that exchange about giving it to crushes. He didn’t want Shiro to think he was desperate. He also didn’t want Shiro to wear it just so he wouldn’t be offended. He decided to leave it on Shiro’s pillow—that way, he could pretend he didn’t see it if he didn’t like it.

Keith spent the entirety of the dinner buffet line is a daze. He spun the bracelet around his wrist, taking in every detail, from the spacing between each bead to the tightness in the weaving. He was aware that his wrist was very slight compared to Shiro’s and that this fit him perfectly. He repeatedly ran his fingers over the macrame as he shuffled along with the rest of the line. Did Shiro mean to tell them that he was his crush? How would someone like Shiro even be attracted to someone like him? Did Shiro mean that he was going to make a bracelet for his actual crush and that Keith’s was just a practice bracelet? Maybe Shiro thought Keith was joking and was just brushing it off because he was uncomfortable. Oh no, Shiro didn’t think he was funny. He probably thought Keith was just awkward and brooding all the time. Ugh, Keith had been chasing after fairy tales and looking for mermaids for the past few days. Maybe Shiro thought he was too childish and silly.

Keith could only barely hear Hunk insist that everyone take a balanced amount of each food item, wanting everyone to be healthy and strong. He heard Pidge argue with him about the food she had to take, implying that just tater tots were perfectly fine because she was staff and that potatoes are vegetables, right? Hunk just nodded as he stacked an extra scoop of peas on her plate. She caught Keith’s attention when he noticed she had another stack of binders holding her plate up in her arms. How someone so small could carry so much, Keith would never figure out.

“More mermaid stuff?” Keith asked across the line, nudging his nose toward the stack in her arms. Pidge lit up and nodded before gesturing toward the staff table. As Keith watched her go, Hunk snuck in with a spoonful of peas for Keith’s plate.

“Hunk, I don’t...Ahh…” He sighed in dismay before moving down the line to defeatedly receive a scoop of applesauce from Lance. Sure, he was more than willing to make the campers eat all this, but he didn’t hold himself to the same standard.

“Everyone gets the full pyramid, buddy,” Lance responded as he leaned against Hunk. Keith watched mild horror as Lance fed a spoonful of applesauce to Hunk, who made a big deal about how good it tasted.

“That’s not even sanitary!” Keith spat, aggressively grabbing handful after handful of tater tots to stack on his plate. He turned, a mountain of tots before him as he added over his shoulder, “Get a new spoon!”

Keith plopped down next to Pidge, who was looking over a bunch of things she had printed out from the computer lab. There were a few more or less credible articles talking about the possibility of mermaids, some of them went into how a mermaid could be anatomically possible, others which even had diagrams. Keith picked up an article that had a bunch of myths and theories about what kinds of powers merpeople possessed. Many of them cited their ability to take a human form out of the water. One article said they had unnatural hair colors like pink or blue or white. Pidge had put a big red circle around the word “white,” and while Keith instantly knew it referred to Allura, he was pretty sure she was just very blonde. Plus, it was trendy for girls to dye their hair white, right? Still, it was just another point in favor of Allura secretly being the mermaid.

“There have been a few mermaid sightings in the tri-state area. I wonder if they have a pod around here.”.

“Pod?” Keith lifted an eyebrow.

“You know. Whales live in pods. I figured it was the best name for them.”

Keith nodded in agreement as he skimmed a few more of the articles. This one talked about siren songs and how merpeople used music and song to lure sailors to their deaths, explaining how they tempted men by singing about their heart’s desires. A short story told of a mermaid who used her song to perform other spells like healing and memory erasure. There was more than one mention of them manipulating the minds of humans. No wonder they stayed in hiding for so long. Before Keith had come to camp, he had thought of mermaids as just another mythical creature, like unicorns or dragons, but the more Keith investigated, the more the clues lined up. It wouldn’t hurt to at least open his mind to the idea that mermaids were real.

Shiro sat down across from him, sporting a large mountain of macaroni and cheese on his plate.

“Hey! How come they didn’t make you take any peas?” Pidge protested, pointing at the gooey mound. Shiro shrugged as he filled his mouth, leaning over to get a good look at the articles.

“Oh that’s just more mermaid stuff,” Keith mumbled as he sheepishly reached for the papers. Shiro snitched one from the table before Keith could get it away.

“Huh…” Shiro swallowed what was in his mouth and pulled more of the articles closer. “You think there’s more nearby?”

Pidge nodded. “Not in Lake Arus, of course. There just aren’t enough sightings to hold up evidence for more than one or two, but there are a few lakes and rivers in the area.”

“They wouldn’t live in rivers,” Shiro dismissed casually, waving his hand. Keith caught sight of the friendship bracelet Keith made decorating his prosthetic wrist. He hid his smile behind the paper in his hand as he pretended to keep reading.

“The rivers near the city are polluted, plus they’re cold as hell,” Shiro continued. “I learned all about them on a science field trip once.”

“They might not live in them, but I imagine mermaids would use rivers like a highway. Quick way to get from pod to pod,” Pidge offered. Shiro shrugged in partial agreement.

“Not a bad thought. I imagine they would.” He took another big bite of his mac-n-cheese before asking, “You guys going to stake out again tonight?”

By now, Allura, Hunk, and Lance had all sat down.

“Yeah! I wanna go to a stakeout!” Lance butted in.

Normally, Keith would have been annoyed to have too many people tagging along, but the fact that Shiro seemed genuinely interested was enough to make him look past it.

\--

After light’s out, the five of them met up at the head of the lake trail. Hunk had carefully crafted a delicious-looking marshmallow treat for them to eat on the bank. Pidge brought five pairs of binoculars from the main lodge, mumbling something about how stakeouts were only fun if there were enough binoculars for everyone. Keith doubted they would see any mermaids with five loud people ogling the lake, but he would at least get a chance to bond with his co-workers.

On the trail, Hunk, Pidge, and Lance traded stories from their days at camp, both past and present. Keith had found out during training that the three of them had gone to camp almost every year together when they were kids; Keith had very vague memory of an inseparable trio in the Garrison unit. Keith picked up on a few of their stories, but it only made him wish he had interacted with more of them when he was younger. When they started talking campfire songs, Keith knew enough to join in. They sang some of the sillier earworms and laughed when they messed up the words.

"Does anyone know  _ Barges _ ?" Shiro asked hopefully. Keith started quickly nodding beside him.

"Hmm, nah," Pidge responded after a second of thinking.

"Sorry buddy.” Hunk shrugged sympathetically.

"I know it," Keith offered, looking up at Shiro with a hopeful smile. To Keith’s surprise, Shiro's lips twitched as he nodded and looked away bashfully.

Keith added, "I forget how it starts, but we can sing it together in a round?"

The wide smile that spread across Shiro's face crinkled his eyes. He started to sing a gentle but cheerful melody about a child who could see a barge from their bedroom window and fantasized going on an adventure on the sea. Shiro's voice by itself sent a shiver down the back of Keith's neck, and he almost forgot to join in. Once they finished their parts of the round, they matched up at the chorus. Keith pitched his voice to harmonize with Shiro, earning him a grin from his co-counselor. When the song was over, silence settled over them.

"Wow," Hunk murmured at last from the front of the line. Keith couldn't help but beam proudly.

"I didn't know you could sing so well," Keith told Shiro quietly, staring out at the lake as it became visible between the trees. The moon shone so brightly that it the lake seemed to glow. If anything was out there, they would see it.

"You stole the words right out of my mouth," Shiro countered. 

"Ugh, just kiss already!" Lance snarked from ahead. The swift movement of Shiro's mechanical arm caught Keith's eye, and he looked just in time to watch Shiro cover his own face in embarrassment. Despite how heartstoppingly cute it was, Keith tried to laugh away Lance’s outburst. From the back of the line, no one could see them—and that, teamed with Shiro's momentary emotional vulnerability gave Keith just enough courage to reach out. He took Shiro's prosthetic wrist, easily feeling the woven bracelet he'd made for him, and pulled Shiro's hand into his own, curiously running his thumb over the flexible material. It felt like a wetsuit and was surprisingly warm. As he laced their fingers, he felt Shiro's close around his, and when Keith glanced down, he saw that both their friendship bracelets were touching. 

When they finally reached the lake, Shiro pulled a large blanket from his backpack and laid it on the sandy ground for everyone to sit. Hunk passed out the marshmallow treats and water, and Pidge handed a pair of binoculars to each person once they were settled. Keith took in the view of the lake as he got comfortable: it wasn’t very wide, but it was long. A few canoe trails split off into the woods, leading to interesting alcoves and caves where campers liked to sneak away to socialize and make out.

“Does everyone have enough room?” Hunk asked, scooting in closer. Pidge ignored everyone at first, binoculars fixed on the lake’s surface.

“Are we close enough?” Lance asked, leaning left and right to try and get a good angle.

“Shush!” Keith whispered. “We don’t want to scare her away.”

“Don’t shush me!”

“ _ Shush _ !”

“YOU SHUSH!”

Almost simultaneously, Hunk and Shiro’s hands moved up to cover Lance and Keith’s mouths. As the warm metal prosthesis curved over Keith’s lips, he let out an indignant grunt and glared at Lance. Shiro and Hunk exchanged a chuckle and a look of fond exasperation that clearly said,  _ Yours too? _ A long, irritated sigh came from Pidge’s direction, and Shiro reached forward to rest his hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry Pidge,” he said in a whisper. “We’ll be serious now.”

As the night went on, the energy level slowly dropped. Keith was pretty sure Hunk and Lance were only in it to be included in the fun, but they eventually started to take interest in the search. They pointed out disturbances in the water and rustlings in the nearby cattails. By the one hour mark, the two seemed pretty convinced there was something out there.

Pidge started the stakeout in a stationary position. Her eyes only left her binoculars long enough to scribble down notes. Keith wasn’t sure what she saw when she wrote or even what she was recording, but it looked very scientific.

Each time Keith looked back at Shiro, he looked absolutely relaxed. Sometimes his eyes would close for a few seconds as he enjoyed the warm breeze, and Keith took a moment to enjoy his surroundings too. He heard the quiet lapping of the lake against the shore and the distant waterfall that resided down one of the canoe trails. The wind lifted from the surface of the lake and gently shook the leaves like hundreds of little tambourines. He could hear Shiro’s relaxed breathing and the slightly audible whirring of his mechanical arm as he readjusted his position.

At the two hour mark, Lance had dozed off on Hunk’s shoulder. It was okay until a soft snoring sound came from him. Hunk yawned and looked down at his best friend, seeing a trail of drool roll out of Lance’s mouth and onto his shirt sleeve.

“Dude…” Hunk sighed affectionately as he leaned up slowly. Lance stirred and sat up straight, quickly wiping his mouth as he grumbled in disorientation.

“We shud g’ back.” Lance mumbled sleepily as he rubbed his face. Hunk nodded.

“We gotta get up early to start breakfast,” he agreed as he shifted over to stand up. He helped Lance up and gathered up what was left of their trail mix. “Gunna put Lance to bed. See you guys in the morning.”

Pidge looked up to wave at them before going back to her search, ignoring the yawn that escaped her throat.

“Be safe,” Shiro whispered as he scooted into Hunk’s spot on the blanket so he could sit next to Keith. His eyes opened and closed slowly once he was settled, his breathing getting slower.

“Sleepy?” Keith asked, feeling perfectly fine.

Shiro nodded. “A little, but I want to stay a bit longer.”

“I can’t throw in the towel yet,” Pidge added, lifting her arms above her head as she stretched. “I’m pretty sure I’ve got my eye on  _ something. _ ”

Keith perked in interest and looked back over the surface of the lake, even though he couldn’t figure out what Pidge was referring to. Maybe she was just tired, but Pidge was an expert with this sort of thing. If she saw something, it had to mean it was possible the mermaid was out there.

By hour three, it was nearly midnight and Pidge had passed out on the blanket, pencil in hand and binoculars on her chest. Shiro stretched, flexing his cramped legs with a small groan. 

“We should take her back to the unit,” he said as he got to his feet. Keith let out a small whine of protest.

“I think it’s quiet enough that we’ll see her,” Keith brushed him off, feeling like he’d almost seen something about a dozen times now. Shiro’s eyebrows drooped in worry.

“Keith, it’s really late. I’ll come back with you another night soon,” Shiro insisted in mild irritation, “It’ll be quieter with just two people.”

While the thought of a night alone with Shiro was almost a dream come true, Keith shrugged. “You guys go ahead. I won’t stay out much longer.”

Shiro stared out at the lake a second before nodding and bending to rouse Pidge.

“Did you see her?” Pidge blurted, quickly grabbing her binoculars. Shiro laughed and shook his head.

“Sorry Pidge. No mermaids tonight.” Shiro broke the news in a soft tone. Surprisingly, Pidge gave no protest as she wobbled to her feet.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself?” Shiro asked with a small frown of worry.

Keith nodded. “I’m sure. I won’t be long.”

Shiro gave him an incredulous look before shrugging. “See you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, guys.”

There was a lot on Keith’s mind in regard to Shiro, but right now, his thoughts were completely mermaid related. Keith was almost getting a headache from thinking about how badly he wanted to see her. He wanted her to know that it was okay to feel lonely and rejected. That even when you try your best, sometimes people just won’t accept your very being. Keith had seen it plenty of times with his foster families: he usually only stayed with one family for a few months before something in him scared them off. He was told he had a bad temper, and while he didn’t remember much of his childhood, he could get angry quickly, so the claims were probably true. Maybe he had lashed out one too many times and that was too troublesome for these nice families who just wanted to help a broken kid.

Keith kicked his shoes off and walked down to the shore so he could stretch. “I just wanna talk,” he whispered to the water. He stepped into the lake to his ankles and sighed in pleasure. The water was warm from the summer sun earlier that day, and it instantly soothed his feet. He relaxed, feeling calmer already as he let his eyes lull.

Almost an hour had passed when he heard a quiet splash on the water’s surface. His violet eyes snapped open as he scanned the water for the source of the movement and he almost fell over when he saw it. A figure just under the water was visible now, about the size of a dolphin…? No, it was longer than a dolphin. Keith’s heart pounded as a humanoid silhouette pulled a very long fish tail behind it under the water. Dots of bioluminescent light sprinkled over both sides of the tail as it glided through the water. He felt his pockets for his phone until he realized he’d left it on the blanket, and he couldn’t risk taking his eyes off her for a second, so he stayed. He was frozen, torn between wading out to meet her and not wanting to scare her away.

The mermaid seemed to turn to face him under the water. She could see him, and he knew that she knew he could see her. She didn’t swim away, but seemed to be contemplating coming closer. Keith locked his body into place. Eventually, she decided to turn away from him and swim away, but not before putting on a show. As she dove deeper, her tail crested out of the water. Keith couldn’t see the colors, but the moonlight highlighted every detail of the shape of those wide tailfins. Two wide teardrop-shaped fins ended in elegant swallowtails on either end, taking the shape of a giant fan when completely unfurled. The tailfins themselves looked wide enough for Keith to lay down across. 

Keith watched her glowing tail grow more and more distant, and as quickly as she had come, she darted away. In seconds, Keith couldn’t even make out her bioluminescent scales anymore, but he could see that she was headed toward one of the canoe trails.

She had escaped his vision, but her appearance had burned into his memory.    
  



	4. The Mermaid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith tries to convince the gang he saw a mermaid, but it'll take some doin'. Keith and Pidge make a horrifying discovery in a pile of rocks and Allura reveals a secret about herself.

“I saw her!”

The words were the first thing that exploded out of Keith’s mouth the next morning when Shiro shook him awake. Unlike the night before, he felt awake and alert. Pidge and Allura were already awake and were out getting their unit ready for breakfast. Keith still remembered the mermaid’s tail as clearly as when he’d first seen it. There was a light in Keith’s eyes that seemed to take Shiro by surprise. 

“You… saw her?” Shiro’s eyebrows were scrunched together. “You saw the mermaid?”

Keith nodded vigorously as he rolled out of his cot and rummaged in his footlocker for something to wear. 

“I saw a mermaid,” Keith said with a singular firm nod.

“Are you sure?” 

Keith had been ready for the skepticism. “There’s no doubt.” Keith talked as he got dressed, barely paying attention to the clothes he was putting on. “I’ll tell you guys at breakfast, but Shiro… She was incredibly beautiful.”

Shiro tilted his head curiously. “Got a good look at her?”

“Yes! Shiro, her tail was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!” Keith beamed, eyes almost as wide as his smile. 

Shiro looked down, his ears turning red as he moved away from Keith to fumble with his backpack. Was Shiro actually jealous?

“Were you able to see her face?” Shiro asked after a bit of silence.

“No, it was too dark. I hope she comes back, though. I really just want to talk to her.” Keith got his own bag ready, carefully supplying himself with everything they would need on a hike as he talked.

“What would you talk about?”

Keith shrugged despite knowing exactly what he’d say. “I guess just about being an outcast. I’d let her know she’s not alone and that she doesn’t have to be.”

Shiro watched Keith intently for a few seconds, as if he were trying to look inside him. His long eyelashes fluttered down as his sight locked onto the friendship bracelet on Keith’s left wrist. 

“Something on your mind?” Keith asked bravely, able to hear his own heartbeat as he wondered what was going on in Shiro’s mind. 

Shiro inhaled deeply, but whatever he was about to say got sighed back out after a few moments. 

“There’s a very tender heart in there,” he whispered instead.

He pressed his human hand to Keith’s chest briefly before turning away and exiting the cabin. 

\--

Breakfast was disappointing. Everyone was sleepy and groggy from staying up so late and didn’t seem interested in talking about mermaids. Pidge and Allura chatted about the activity they had planned for their unit and how excited their kids were to finally swim in the lake. Lance still looked just as sleepy as the night before, and Hunk even moreso. Did they not sleep when they got back?

“So, uh, I saw her,” Keith breached when there was a pause in the conversation. Pidge looked up from her cereal to stare at Keith.

“Wait, you… You did?” She sat up straight and turned to face him. “When?”

“When everyone went to bed. She almost came to the surface. I could see her shadow.”

“You got pics, right?” Pidge reached her hand out for his phone, but Keith shook his head.

“I was too afraid to move and scare her. I went to the water’s edge and she just… swam over.”

“What did she look like?” Hunk asked, perking up.

“It was hard to tell. She wouldn’t surface,” Keith admitted, forlorn. “But she let me see her tail. It glowed under the water and… Jeeze, her tail was so long!”

“Heh, just like my—”

“LANCE.” Allura had her finger over her lips, a sharp gaze snapping in his direction. It was then Keith realized that she was listening quietly, intently. Was their biggest naysayer actually interested?

“When she dove under, I saw her tailfins, and they were really beautiful,” Keith continued with a wistful sigh, “Shiro, they  _ glowed _ !”

“Are you sure you didn’t dream it?” Pidge asked, earning herself a scowl.

“No! I saw her.  _ I was awake. _ ”

“Okay, calm down, Keith. It just seems a little weird that she popped out when you were alone,” Lance said casually, poking at his cereal to coat it in milk.

“I  _ am  _ calm!” Well, he had been a few seconds ago.

“We’re not saying you’re a liar or anything, Keith. It’s just hard to swallow the idea of a mermaid being actually real,” Pidge tried to reason. Keith growled in frustration.

“Doesn’t it make sense that she would only come out when there weren’t tons of eyes on her?” Keith sat up straighter, feeling himself get worked up. The back of his neck felt tight as he held back the urge to shake. His eyes started to tingle, almost like he was ready to cry, but no tears came.

“It makes sense.” Allura was quick to assure him in an overly-calm even tone as she stared straight into his eyes with a worried frown. “Just do another stakeout with fewer people. Uh… Pidge? Bring your camera next time.”

Pidge nodded. “Yeah, we’ll know for sure once we get some really good pictures of her.”

Everyone’s tone became more gentle, as if Keith had suddenly turned to glass that would shatter in the softest wind. He knew this look. He’d gotten this look all the time from foster parents and caseworkers. He took several deep breaths with his eyes closed, trying to find a center of calm and hold onto it. He didn’t think he was that upset, but maybe he looked angry. When he opened his eyes again, Allura had visibly relaxed. 

“We’re going to the lake today. Maybe we can find some clues while the kids are swimming,” Pidge suggested with a shrug. 

“She did swim off in a specific direction,” Keith supplied.

“That’s a good start!” Pidge said, smiling. 

\--

That afternoon, Keith and Shiro’s unit had scheduled swim time with Pidge and Allura’s. Coran perched vigilantly on the life guard’s stand. Keith made sure not to make eye contact with him. He’d seen way too much of their camp’s nurse and the speedo he was wearing left nothing to the imagination. Instead, Keith used his excitement about tracking the mermaid to distract himself.

“Hey.” Pidge nudged Keith’s arm with her elbow, pointing to where Shiro and Allura were seated under an umbrella together. Keith’s heart thudded with jealousy as he watched them laugh with each other. Sure, they were basically adopted siblings, but Keith just wished he was the one relaxing with Shiro and laughing and whispering in his ear. 

“Isn’t it weird how Allura never goes in the water?” Pidge continued. 

“Wait, she has before, right?” Keith scrunched his eyebrows together as he tried to remember a time when she had. She was a girl, so Keith had no idea what she did once she got to the shower house. “Now that I think about it, she always sits out with Shiro.”

Keith had thought she was just doing it so he had someone to keep him company. Because of his prosthetic arm, he wasn’t able to enter the water without covering the whole thing in plastic, so he generally stayed away from water.

“If water touches a mermaid’s legs, they’ll turn into a fish tail.” Pidge reminded him. He nodded. 

“We should get a canoe.”

\--

With their units under the watchful eye of Shiro, Allura, and Coran, they knew they would have plenty of time to explore. Keith steered their canoe down the path he’d seen the mermaid escape down the night before. The path strayed into the trees with plenty of places for any creature to take refuge, and though Keith scanned the water for any hint of that glowing tail, it was hard to catch with flecks of sunlight sparkling on the water through the leaves. 

The trail eventually led up to a large pool with a short waterfall spilling into it. Behind the falls was a cave that was just deep enough for a handful of teenagers to seek refuge, a relatively unknown spot to play and relax when staff members wanted to sneak away for some private time. Drinking, smoking, and lovemaking made the pool infamous for good reason. The waterfall kept the pool cold and refreshing all summer, and it was a great place for anyone to hide. Especially a mermaid.

Keith steered the canoe to shore and pushed it onto the bank before helping Pidge out. 

“I don’t think she would live here, do you?” Pidge wondered, looking around the pool for hiding spots. “I mean, too many people know about it.”

“I don’t think she lives here. Especially if it’s Allura.” Keith said, pulling his shoes off so that he could wade into the water. “But it’s a really good place to get in and out of the water without being seen.”

Keith waded closer to the entrance of the cave and scanned the formation of rocks at the cave’s mouth. The waterfall was churning the water at the base, making it was difficult to see, but his eye caught on something white lying among the larger rocks. He bent and tried to pick up what looked like a small white rock, but it was stuck, seemingly pinned by the bigger boulders. He knelt down in the water, tugging at the rock pinning it, throwing his body weight into it. It took a bit of pulling, but he was eventually able to shift it enough to pull the white rock loose. Keith realized quickly that it wasn’t a rock, but something much longer.

“Oh—! What the?” Keith almost dropped what he found and held up what looked like a small humerus. 

“Is that human? What is that?” Pidge ran to the cave’s mouth to get a better look. Keith held it out as she pulled out her phone and wiped a few drops of water from the screen with the sleeve of her jacket. Quickly, she leaned up to get a picture of it. 

“Looks like an arm bone.” Keith felt a weird squirm in his stomach. It was small enough to be a child’s, and he desperately didn’t want to find the remains that were attached to it. 

“Are you sure it’s human? Maybe it’s from a deer or something,” Pidge suggested, trying to Google what it could possibly belong to. With spotty reception, it was very slow going. 

“Maybe,” Keith agreed as he bent to pull more of the rock away. Now that the bone was loose, it was much easier to move. He saw more pieces of a skeleton: one more long arm bone and a collection of smaller hand bones. He brought them over to the bank and tried to lay them out in the best order he could. Some were missing, but there was no mistaking how human they looked: the collection almost certainly belonged to a child.

“What the hell?” Pidge whispered in horror. Did someone die here? Was it just the arm, or was there more somewhere else? “Should we tell the police?”

Keith stared down at the bones and shrugged. They had gone into this looking for a mermaid. He didn’t expect to find a crime scene.

“You don’t have to go to the police,” Allura’s voice behind them announced, making them both jump. Keith spun around and frowned at her, his hand automatically reaching for the knife clipped to his belt in his surprise. She had probably taken the lake trail that lead through the back woods, a large bag at her hip.

“Why shouldn’t we?” he asked, puffing his chest bravely.

“I knew you two would be here.” She let out a small sigh and pointed to the bones laid out on the ground. “It’s not a murder. It was just an accident. It happened years ago.”

“Shiro…” Keith finished for her. He made firm eye-contact with Allura. “He lost his arm here?”

Allura nodded, looking a little relieved. She didn’t look like she wanted to explain much more than that. 

“We were very little and he was looking for a clubhouse, I guess. He saw that there was a cave behind a wall of rocks, and they fell while he was trying to shift them.” She told them carefully, hesitant as if she were afraid of telling them too much information. “If I hadn’t found him, he would have died. It was that night my father decided to adopt him.”

“That… Wow, I feel bad for Shiro., Pidge said softly.

Allura shrugged. “My father made sure he got the best treatment money could buy. Shiro says he actually prefers his prosthetic arm sometimes. It’s stronger.” She smiled a little and set her bag down.

“It’s time you learned the truth before more kids get hurt,” Allura continued. “I know you came out here to look for the mermaid.” She bent and opened up her bag. Inside was a mass of beautiful iridescent swim fabric that seemed to almost glow in certain lights. She pulled it out to show the other two that it was a long mermaid tail that Allura could fit over her legs. 

“I didn’t want to tell anyone because I was afraid of being laughed at.” She looked down and smiled sheepishly. “Ever since I was a little girl, I was fascinated by mermaids. When I got older, I custom ordered this on the internet so that, in some ways, I could actually  _ be  _ a mermaid. It’s silly.”

Keith crinkled his brow and shook his head a little as he offered a smile. “It’s not silly.”

“Keith, it’s you I saw the other night while I was out diving, wasn’t it?” Allura asked.

Keith nodded, feeling his belly sink. A mermaid so beautiful it took his breath away, and it had just turned out to be a costume. He was the one who felt silly now. 

“Why didn’t you just tell us sooner?” Pidge’s voice was laced with indignance. “Coulda saved us a lot of trouble… And sleep.”

Allura laughed. “And ruin your pursuit? You all looked like you were having so much fun. I didn’t want to be found out, of course. I would still prefer if you did not tell Hunk or Lance what you know.”

“It’s your information to share,” Keith said, resting his hand on her shoulder. She relaxed under his hand in relief. 

“So, there you have it! The mystery is solved.” Allura nodded firmly, placing her hands on her hips. “I’m the Mermaid of Lake Arus.”

“I think it’s awesome,” Pidge said, staring down at the bones. What were they going to do with them now?

“Go ahead and leave those there. I’ll let Shiro know you found them, and we’ll see what he wants to do with them,” Allura said, waving Pidge away. 

“Does Shiro know you’re the mermaid?” Keith asked as he crawled back into the canoe. 

Allura nodded. “Yes. He helped me get used to the tail and everything. He was very supportive, actually.”

Keith looked down, feeling even sillier now. Shiro had spent all that time with them last night even though he knew Allura was the mermaid the whole time. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with that information, but he was glad he had it.

Keith and Pidge let Allura into their canoe with them as they paddled back to the trail. Keith was sad the search was a dud, but now he would be able to relax and focus on his quest for Shiro’s affection.

He was ready to put it all behind him, until he saw a strange ripple in the water: the disturbance of something large passing under the canoe. Keith looked back, trying to catch sight of it, but there was nothing there. Wishful thinking.


	5. Consolation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Always take a buddy with you when you go to the latrine at night.

“Everything okay?”

Partway through the next day, their group finally had some down time: on a hike, they had found a nice clearing to eat their packed lunches. Keith was never known for being incredibly expressive, but his attitude was noticeably more muted today. He didn’t even realize it himself until Shiro picked up on it.

The question caught Keith’s attention, and he realized he was staring off into the woods. “H-Hmm…?” He finished chewing the mouthful of sandwich he’d forgotten about and swallowed.

“You don’t seem like yourself.” Shiro had a worried frown, scooting a little closer so they could sit across from each other.

“Oh, I’m okay,” Keith assured before fitting more sandwich into his mouth. The only thing that had distracted him from how much he wanted Shiro was the search for the mermaid, and now that it was over, he had to face all of the anxiety that entailed: of being rejected by him, and of working up the courage to ask in the first place. If he asked Shiro out now, he could end up getting shot down and he’d have to spend the rest of the summer working with him. If he didn’t ask Shiro out, he’d spend the entire summer wondering.

“Mermaid search not what you thought it would be?” Shiro asked after a few moments of silence.

Keith didn’t reply, but he shrugged with a small nod.

“Allura told me everything,” Shiro continued. “Allura doesn’t talk about it much, but she’s always had a strong fascination with mermaids. She thinks it’s silly and childish to be so obsessed, so she keeps it to herself as much as possible. Her father had a mermaid tail custom made for her when she was little and that’s actually how she learned to swim. We used to play in the water a lot, and she always had that thing on.” Shiro’s fond expression sent a cold chill through Keith’s stomach. He knew their bond was more familial, but he couldn’t help but hate the way Shiro looked when he talked about her.

“I feel bad for finding out,” Keith replied. This was actually true. He felt like he’d unintentionally turned Allura into a mental antagonist: she had stood in the way of every attempt to find out about the mermaid and a bond with Shiro. Now, he felt like he’d accidentally seen her diary. She didn’t tell him and Pidge because she wanted to; they’d almost forced her.

“Don’t feel too bad. I bet she feels relief to have people who know her secret,” Shiro assured him. He locked gazes with Keith for what felt like a very long time. His lips twitched as if he wanted to say something else, but was having trouble working up the courage.   
“While we’re finding out stuff about each other,” Keith began bravely. He could suddenly feel his heart in his chest. He counted the beats as time slowed. His mind screamed at him to ask.  _ Just ask him! Get the words out! _

“What’s up?” Shiro looked nervous, too. In fact, it seemed like he was dreading something. Oh no. He knew Keith was into him, wasn’t he? He was trying to think of a nice way to reject him, right?

“Well, I… Pidge and I found your arm!” Keith substituted, making Shiro’s eyes widen. Shit. He shouldn’t have said that.

“My… arm?” Shiro’s eyebrows crinkled together. Some of the campers looked up from their hand clapping game and they lowered their voices.

“It was an accident. We were looking for clues and we found it,” Keith whispered.

Shiro looked down at the prosthesis he’d grown so used to. “What’s left of it?”

“Just bone.” Keith shrugged.

“Did you take any of it?”

“Of course not!”

“Why?”

“Shiro, do you actually hear yourself right now?”

Shiro burst out laughing, leaning back on his hands. His face had gone red, but it was hard to tell if it was an emotional reaction or the hot sun. Keith noticed the increased number of freckles on Shiro’s chapped cheekbones since the summer started.

“You’re so cute,” Keith sighed, not paying attention to his words. Shiro’s face cracked into the biggest smile he had ever seen, and he suddenly realized what he had just said. Keith’s hand clamped over his mouth as he let out a groan.

“You’re one to talk.” Shiro countered as he got to his feet, “Okay everyone! Let’s head back down the trail.”

\--

Over the next few days, Keith grew less and less interested in mermaids, and it seemed like everyone else did too. Hunk and Lance stopped talking about it entirely. Pidge still mentioned it from time to time, but the binders full of research never came back out. She and Keith never said a word of Allura’s secret to anyone, and the stories eventually faded as Keith’s focus shifted entirely to Shiro. His eyes constantly darted to the friendship bracelet on Shiro’s prosthetic wrist, and he couldn’t stop thinking about how he was still diligently wearing it. Keith had just about memorized the feel of his own, tightly woven with beads perfectly spaced, now so natural that he sometimes forgot he was wearing it.

“You really seem to like that,” Shiro pointed out one night as Keith bent himself over the fire pit, stacking logs to start the evening fire. He was waiting for the campers to gather small sticks for kindling and had stopped to fidget with the beads. Keith looked up to see Shiro’s finger absently hooked inside the bracelet Keith had made.

“I do,” Keith admitted. “Where’d you learn to macrame so well?”

Shiro shrugged. “I had a lot of medical problems when I was little. Allura taught me how after Alfor took me in, and I became kind of obsessed with it. Once they fitted me with a new arm, they used weaving and sewing as therapy so I could learn to use it. It’s actually more precise than my regular arm now.” He opened and closed his prosthesis as he talked, but his eyes were locked on Keith.

“You can sew?”

“Sew, needlepoint, macrame, crochet, knit. I even used to weave macrame thread and beads into Allura’s hair,” Shiro said, gaining the attention of some of the campers.

“Shiro, will you macrame my hair?” a young girl asked, her eyes lighting up in delight. Shiro smiled at her and nodded. She quickly plopped herself down in his lap and wiggled as she got comfortable. Her expression was blissful and satisfied, and Keith knew damn well that he wasn’t the only one in camp who dreamed of taking a seat on Shiro.

_ Damn, she was good. _

Shiro wasn’t halfway done when he had a line of campers ready to get some kind of weaving in their hair. Shiro was a quick worker, and it wasn’t long before most of their unit had a strand of hair adorned with thread and beads. By then, a fire grew tall as the night grew dark. It had to be getting hard for Shiro to see, but he’d managed to get each request filled.

“Keith, you should let Shiro do your hair too,” Allura added from across the ring. Her smile was small and almost sly. 

“He’s probably too tired. It’s okay,” Keith assured, taking a seat next to Shiro as he stared at the fire.

“I don’t mind at all,” Shiro assured, picking out some red and black thread. “Like these? They seem to be our colors.” He pointed to their bracelets.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Keith pressed as he tried to catch his eye-contact for confirmation.

Shiro nodded and turned sideways on the bench so that he could reach Keith’s hair better. He combed some of the black hair back with his fingers and selected one of the curls behind Keith’s ear.

Keith had to resist turning into goop the moment Shiro’s fingers touched his hair. It was so soothing and nice to have it played with, and the sound of Shiro’s deep even breathing would be enough to lull him to sleep given the right circumstances. 

Keith took this opportunity to shamelessly stare at Shiro’s face. As Shiro concentrated on weaving, Keith watched his crystal grey eyes. He fantasized about pushing his fingers through Shiro’s white bangs and kissing his forehead underneath. He felt Shiro’s body relax, and he lifted his eyes to meet Keith’s. It felt like they had stared at each other for ages before he heard a small group of giggles coming from the other side of the fire ring. Allura shushed the girls that had huddled together to watch them, but she was holding back her own laughter.

Realizing they were in the real world still, Shiro and Keith drew apart.

“All done?” Keith asked as he reached up to feel the newly decorated lock of hair.

Shiro nodded and turned to face the fire again. The hair had uncurled with the weight of the embroidery floss and beads, so it hung longer than the rest of it.

“It looks good on you.” Shiro’s voice was barely more than whisper. Keith felt hot, and his desire to touch Shiro grew harder and harder to resist.

“I have to go to the latrine,” Keith announced as he stood up and clicked on his flashlight.

“I’ll go with you.” Shiro stood up as well. “It’s a little dark to go by yourself,” he added before Keith had a chance to protest. More giggles leaked out from the other side of the ring.

The walk to the latrine was awkward and silent. Keith went inside quietly, but let out a large sigh once he sat down. All his instincts told him something was going to happen soon; He could sense that Shiro wanted to make a move. Now he just had to find out who would crack first. 

“Thanks for coming with me,” Keith said when he finally exited the stall. He walked past Shiro to wash his hands at the trough. “And… for putting up with me.”

“Putting up with you?” Shiro sounded genuinely surprised. “Keith, I’ve enjoyed every minute of working with you.”

Keith shook his head. “I mean through all this mermaid stuff.”

Shiro let out a short laugh. “Oh, you don’t know the half of it, trust me.”

“You mean with Allura?”

Shiro went quiet, which made Keith’s stomach turn. Maybe he had been too annoying. Quickly, he dried his hands on his shorts and walked back in front of Shiro to head back to camp. He didn’t get very far when Shiro took hold of his wrist and pulled him back, the look on Shiro’s face one of worry mixed with fear.

“Are you okay?” Keith asked, trying to dissect his feelings. After they stared at each other long enough, Keith jerked forward to get closer, but the doubt he’d been struggling with all summer stopped him before he got too close. Instantly, Shiro reached up and cupped Keith’s face where it stopped and leaned in to meet him.

Shiro kissed him like he’d been practicing for it his whole life. Keith let out a delighted grunt of surprise and grabbed Shiro’s shoulder, kissing him back. After a few moments, they parted for only a moment before going right back at it.

Keith breathed in as much of Shiro as he could, fingers curled in Shiro’s t-shirt. Shiro pressed him back against the side of the latrine, angling Keith lower on the hill. With that motion, Shiro towered over him, and it made all his muscles feel momentarily weak. With his prosthetic arm bracing Shiro against the small building, Keith could hear the mechanisms wheeze under his weight. Shiro’s other hand moved up Keith’s back as Keith’s hands snuck under Shiro’s shirt, greedy fingers sliding up along his abs like they were trying to memorize every ridge of them.

They stopped kissing and rested their foreheads together as they smiled at each other.

“How long were you holding that in?” Shiro asked through a laugh.

“About as long as you have,” Keith teased, his hands continuing along Shiro’ships.

Shiro chuckled and shook his head. “If only you knew,” he whispered, going in for another kiss before Keith had a chance to question him.

Keith went in boldly this time, moving his fingers under the waistband of Shiro’s shorts. He heard an involuntary grunt of pleasure across from him, which coaxed him lower.

The two of them moved in perfect rhythm with each other until Shiro seemed to realize where Keith was exploring. He jerked his hips backward, but not in time to spare Keith what he felt down there. Instead of a coarse trail of hair sitting under Shiro’s belly button, Keith’s fingers brushed over an unexpected texture, the skin dry and bumpy. Or was it smooth? Was it even skin?  Keith pulled his hand out quickly with the aid of Shiro’s firm grip. He stared up at Shiro, who looked more scared than angry. He did say he had a lot of medical problems growing up; this rash or whatever it was must be part of it.

Keith kept his gaze with Shiro, unsure if he should apologize or pretend he didn’t feel anything. Shiro looked like he was trying to gauge if Keith had felt it. Keith decided to try and break the tension by pressing a gentle kiss to his jaw. Shiro smiled and relaxed, nuzzling his nose before kissing the bridge. Keith could have kissed him a thousand more times, but he knew they had to get back to camp, so took him for one more kiss on the lips before sliding out from under him.

“Coming?” Keith teased, nudging his head back toward the campfire that could be partially seen through the trees. Shiro grinned and jogged up next to him, catching his waist and pulling him against his chest from behind.

“This is exactly what I was worried about.” Shiro moaned as he nuzzled his cheek into Keith’s hair. “Now that I’m allowed to touch you, it’s all I’m going to want to do.”

Keith leaned into Shiro, covering his hands with his own.

“Could be a fun challenge,” Keith offered, glancing back at him. “There are a lot of hiding spots in this camp.”

“Good point.” Shiro gave him one more good squeeze before letting him go. “We’ll have to check them out. For safety reasons, of course.”

“Of course.”


	6. The Makeout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Shiro can't stop touching each other. Calm down, you two! Allura threatens Keith during a thunderstorm. Shiro gets too wet.

Shiro woke Keith with a kiss the very next morning.

“Mmshiro…” came Keith’s creaky, automatic reply as his chest lifted like it had been filled for the first time. Clearly the thought of being kissed by Shiro was not one Keith had to get used to.

“Your lips came prepared,” Shiro teased, his voice turning upward in interest as Keith jerked awake fully. He fluttered his eyes to clear the morning blurriness and realized the word that had came from his mouth. He rolled over with a groan as he tried to hide an awkward smile under the blankets.

“Y-you can’t surprise me like that.” Keith protested once Shiro moved away from his cot. Allura and Pidge seemed to have already gotten their unit moving toward the cafeteria. They were alone in the cabin.

“Oh, you’re going to tell me you were surprised, with a moan like that?” Shiro snorted and sat down to put on his hiking boots.

Keith put his back to Shiro as he quickly got dressed. It was a fairly quick process when you wore different black t-shirts over the same pair of shorts all week. He heard Shiro’s heavy form move in behind him, and he already felt like he was going to melt. Shiro’s gentle hands combed through the curls around his neck, sending a little shiver over his shoulders.

“Heh, sorry,” Shiro said softly as he pulled Keith’s hair together. He tugged the strand that he’d macramed the night before and let it hang free as he pulled the rest of Keith’s hair into a small ponytail. When he finished, Shiro’s hands slid down Keith’s shoulders and around his waist as he hugged him tenderly from behind. Keith leaned into him contently until he felt something very firm press against his backside, then uncurled himself from Shiro’s hold and pecked his cheek, eyebrows raised.

“Going to teach the kids how to pitch a tent?” ,e teased, gesturing to the raised front of Shiro’s shorts.

Shiro’s entire face turned red and he immediately spun around to grab a pillow from his cot.

“Keith, you’re awful!” Shiro cried as Keith wiggled out the front door of the cabin with a laugh. He closed it just in time to hear the pillow flop loudly against the door.

\--

Keith let out a long sigh of relief: today was incredibly hot and the only sanctuary was the large walk-in freezer in the cafeteria’s kitchen. He and Pidge had camped out on the floor, sharing a popsicle.

“I wonder how long they’ll let us stay here,” Pidge started to shiver, but seemed determined to remain in the freezer as long as possible.

Keith shrugged. He was starting to get a little too cold as well, but it was better than being in the hot sun.

“What’s this?” Pidge reached forward and touched the beaded thread in Keith’s hair.

“Oh!” Keith jumped, feeling his face get warm. “Shiro made it for me.” As he watched Pidge’s expression get more sly and smug, he very briefly debated coming clean and eventually continued, “Okay, you can’t tell anyone this, but last night, by the latrine we--”

“All right you hooligans! Scram!” Hunk had pulled the door open and glared down at them. The two scrambled to their feet and ran out as Hunk shouted things about sanitation and safety.

Stepping outside was punishment enough, humidity pounding them as soon as the door opened. Pidge’s glasses steamed up, causing her to groan in misery and remove them.

“There you two are!” Allura took them both by the hand and pulled them to the open field next to the cafeteria. Keith was pretty sure he heard Pidge hiss when the sun touched her fair skin.

Set up in the middle of the field were two large tubs filled with water balloons. A collection of water guns and super soakers lay on the ground next to them.

“How about a water battle?” Allura gestured with a grin.

The teams were divided by camper unit: Shiro and Keith’s vs. Allura and Pidge’s.

“I’ll be joining your team since Shiro is sitting out,” Allura told Keith as they huddled together to make their attack plan.

“Doesn’t that give Pidge a disadvantage?” Keith asked before he turned and glanced in her direction to see her barking tactical movements and operations to her team. It was almost terrifying.

“She’ll be fine,” They said in unison. Keith laughed before looking over at Shiro, who was chugging a bottle of water in the shade. He waved at Keith as he drank, who waved back automatically.

“He’s a little dehydrated, so he said he didn’t feel up to running around,” Allura explained before Keith could ask.

Once you were hit, you were out. Keith and Pidge named their teams Red and Green, respectively, to reflect their favorite colors.  When Shiro blew the whistle to start the game, three out of Keith’s fourteen kids were out right off the bat. The fallen campers took a seat next to Shiro, who passed around cups of water for everyone to drink.

Pidge was brutal. She showed her unit how to ambush and took down four more of the red team’s campers in one hit, but the remaining seven of them turned ferocious. They ganged up on green team campers, singling them out and taking them down one at a time. Keith and Allura split off and took down a group of green’s more imposing campers. Soon, only three on each team remained Keith with two of his girls versus Pidge and two of her kids.

Pidge was tactical to a fault, and Keith brought his campers in to plan a full surprise attack. One of his girls ran out as a diversion while Keith and his other camper ran to take out Pidge’s two campers. They got one of his team in retaliation while Pidge took out the distraction. Now it was down to Pidge and Keith, and they both took cover.

Keith glanced over the crowd, the members cheering for their respective counselor. He saw a boy playfully aim his water gun at Shiro, who instantly recoiled as if he’d been stung by a wasp. He looked as if the kid had pulled a real gun on him.

Something strange clicked in Keith’s mind. A connection about Shiro he was afraid to formulate completely. His thought process, however, was interrupted by a sharp tone from Allura to make the kid back down. She was always ready to defend Shiro, and Keith was starting to understand why.

“Come out, come out, Keith!” Pidge purred as she prowled the field. Keith watched her from his hiding spot. A string of water balloons hung from her belt loops like grenades, a super soaker ready to fire. Keith didn’t have much: three water balloons sat in his lap.

“Come on, Keith.” Pidge cooed, walking towards the crowd. She must have seen the exchange between the camper and the water gun, because she took aim at Shiro.

“Pidge, seriously!” Shiro nearly barked, putting his hand up.

“I don’t wanna have to, Shiro, but someone has to get wet.” Pidge said, pumping up a strong water blast.

“Don’t!” Shiro was getting to his feet, visibly nervous.

“Hey!” Keith stepped out to the middle of the field. He didn’t know what exactly Shiro was afraid of. He just knew Shiro could not get wet. “I’m the one you want.”

Pidge didn’t hesitate. She opened fire on Keith, blasting him with as much water as the gun could hold. Keith fell to his knees, faking a very dramatic death scene.

For losing, Shiro and Keith’s unit had to go around the field to pick up the little broken balloon pieces. Once they had finished, both units were free to play with the water guns to keep cool. Allura and Pidge took watch of the kids while Shiro and Keith went to the craft supply cupboard to gather what they needed for the next activity.

“You okay?” Keith asked once they were alone. Shiro nodded as he rummaged around for tie dye supplies. He didn’t say anything.

“Does water bother you or something?” Keith pressed.

Shiro froze, looking down into the box he’d been searching through. He released a large sigh as if he were coming to a big conclusion.

“I’m…” Shiro continued to look down for a few moments and then up at Keith. “I want to tell you, but it’s frightening to share.” Shiro’s face took on a lonely seriousness.

Keith stepped forward and pressed a soft kiss to Shiro’s chin. His expression instantly melted into a smile.

“You don’t have to tell me. I’ll protect you,” Keith whispered, moving a hand up to push away the pale bangs that had stuck to Shiro’s forehead with a layer of sweat. Shiro responded by moving the kisses along, kissing his nose, forehead, and cheek. By the time the kisses reached Keith’s lips, Keith’s hands were sliding up Shiro’s biceps as he pressed their bodies together. Last night, Keith had fallen into addiction instantly. Kissing Shiro caused a kind of relief that met nothing short of a need. Looking at Shiro left him starving, and the only way to feed was to touch him.

The two of them grew used to making out like this; it became the only thing they did during any amount of quiet private time. It also happened to be what they did when the personal conversation grew too uncomfortable, and each makeout session turned into a game of how far they could go without getting caught. They picked riskier locations by the day and pushed the boundaries, stopped just on the line between making out intensely and foreplay. Keith could tell that the desire for sex was there, but Shiro always stopped short. The longer they spent making out, the less time they spent talking—and the more apparent their public affection grew. One of them usually had a hand on the other’s shoulder; they moved their cots so they could hold hands while they slept; and each conversation was peppered with touches, nudges, and nose boops.

One morning at breakfast, Lance had had enough.

“It might just be me,” Lance pondered aloud, resting his chin in his hand as Shiro fed Keith a piece of bacon from his plate, “but is something going on between you two?”

“DUH, LANCE,” Pidge drawled, rolling her eyes. “It’s gross. Just send me the wedding invitation.”

Allura was watching them fondly: Shiro had let it slip that she had to listen to each time he ranted about wanting Keith. She must have been happy to see them finally together; Keith felt guilty for thinking so poorly of her.

“I’m happy for them,” Hunk chimed in, seeming to enjoy the romance blossoming in front of him. “How long have you two been boyfriends?”

“Boyf—?” Shiro sat up straight, glancing at Keith as if he just realized what he was doing. “Oh, we’re not dating or anything.”

He was very quick with his response, and Keith felt his heart jump. Shiro didn’t picture them in a relationship? He felt his ears get hot and the bottom of his stomach dropped. Cold dread pumped through him, turning his world dark in just seconds.

“Y-yeah. I guess we’re not.” Keith's’ tone fell. It was like the first day of camp training; Keith had transformed back into that shy, emotionless boy right before their eyes. He was silent for the rest of breakfast as he focused on his plate. He felt the warmth of Shiro’s mechanical hand on his thigh, but Keith didn’t react. Without a word, he stood up and walked to the counter to deposit his tray for the kitchen staff to clean.

Keith’s mind spun the rest of the day. Shiro seemed to sense his discomfort and kept his distance, refraining from pulling him away to kiss. Keith had so many questions. Was Shiro just using him to release sexual frustration? They’d sort of used each other, but Keith assumed it was because it was all so new for them and they would eventually calm down and start talking about their relationship like adults. Maybe he was too forward to assume someone like Shiro was in his league. He was fine when the choices were narrow, but there was no reason Shiro shouldn’t drop him as soon as camp was over.

At campfire, Shiro tried to initiate contact. He made sure to include Keith in the conversation and tried to engage with him. He laughed at anything Keith said that was remotely funny. He went back to the affectionate and occasional touches, but Keith ignored them all. Instead, he drew away from Shiro and stood up.

“I’m tired,” was the only announcement Keith made before walking back toward the cabin. He happened to glance back just a second to see Shiro’s face resting in his hands. He sighed and closed the door behind him.

Keith was actually far from tired. His mind was going too many places to rest. He had to be rational. The reason he had fallen for Shiro was because he was gentle and kind. He wasn’t the type of person to use anyone selfishly, so it had to be something else. They’d barely talked once they started being more intimate. There was some reason Shiro didn’t want to bond with him emotionally. Shiro said he grew up with medical problems. Maybe he was dying? That would break his heart, but Keith would stand by him until the end. No, maybe that was a little too dramatic. The weird rash came to mind. Keith tried to remember how it felt, but he had touched it so briefly, it was hard to tell. The logical part of him called it a rash, but it didn’t really  _ feel  _ like one. It was just the only word his brain had for a skin abnormality like that. It was feathered and rough, but smooth overall like armor or… scales.

There were a lot of pieces in Keith’s mind that he felt too silly to put together: a feeling of scales, Shiro’s aversion to water, the mermaid appearing just after Shiro had left the stakeout, catching a glimpse of something big in the water even after Allura exposed herself. Before Keith could even formulate the conclusion he’d been dancing around in his mind, tiredness finally took over. He slept.

\--

A loud crack of thunder shocked Keith from his sleep,rain pelting the roof of the cabin. He sat up, automatically reaching for the knife under his pillow as he looked around. Pidge was still fast asleep, Allura was upright as well, and Shiro’s cot was empty.

“Where’s Shiro?” Keith sprung out of bed as he shoved his feet into his hiking boots. For whatever reason, Shiro hated being wet, and Keith had to help him. Allura was already at the cabin door, and she turned to press a hand to Keith’s chest.

“I’m going to look for him. Stay,” she said firmly, staring at Keith.

“You said it yourself. It’s dangerous to go by yourself at night,” Keith countered as he clipped his knife to his belt. “What if you get lost or hurt and then something bad happens to both of you?”

Allura stared him down for a few seconds before sighing and nodding. She pushed open the cabin door and ran out into the storm, Keith behind her.

“Keith, you need to know that if you say or do anything to harm Shiro, I promise you will never see him again,” Allura shot back to him over the rain. Her frigid tone and wording left him shivering, a terrifying seriousness to her voice. “You have to promise to help him no matter what state you find him in.”

“O-okay!” Keith nodded forcefully. Allura stopped, taking Keith by the wrists as she frowned at him through the rain.

“I’m serious, Keith. No. Matter. What.”

“I absolutely promise.” Keith’s courage had now grown enough to put the puzzle pieces together. “No matter what Shiro looks like, I will help him without question.”

Satisfied by this, Allura pulled him into an unexpected hug. Keith locked up in surprise before gently returning it. She drew away quickly and lead Keith toward the lake path.

“I’m pretty sure I know where he went to think.” Allura led him to the trail that, much darker than usual in the pouring rain. Another crack of thunder hit nearby, but the thick trees made it difficult to tell exactly where. As they jogged through the woods, the two of them shouted Shiro’s name, being sure to pause to hear a response. Finally, they heard something.

“Allura?” Shiro’s voice called from a small rocky overhang near the path. Keith squinted through the rainy darkness, but Shiro had tucked himself into the shelter of the overhang too far to see. Allura jogged up the small hill and sighed in relief when she saw him.

Keith stayed on the path, somehow knowing Shiro didn’t want him there. He couldn’t hear what Shiro said to Allura to the rain. His voice was too deep and soft to make out.

“Keith came to help!” Allura argued back in response to whatever Shiro had said. “You two drove me nuts today! You know he loves you, right?”

Shiro’s response was still inaudible.

“Yes, he does! Have you ever looked at him before, or were you too busy sucking face?  _ You love him, Shiro! _ He has to see some time.”

This was getting awkward. Finally, Allura popped her head up from the shelter and beckoned Keith up. Keith’s heart jittered, and he knew he was about to see something that would change his life. Bravely, Keith walked up the small hill, heart still pounding as he stepped into the outcropping.

There he saw Shiro, partially laying down, supporting himself with his elbows. His entire right side was covered in mud, as if he’d slipped in it. The familiar bioluminescent glow Keith remembered from the night he saw the mermaid trailed down from Shiro’s torso to where his legs should have been, and Allura’s flashlight barely illuminated the rest. At his hips, long pale fins rested on the ground, caked in mud. Keith barely missed stepping on the large swallowed tail that Shiro quickly pulled up to curl over the rest of himself vulnerably.

Finally, the puzzle had fit together. Shiro was a merman.


	7. The Merman of Lake Altea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the story of a little mer boy who fell in love with a human boy.

_ Ten years ago… _

 

Shiro’s heart pounded. A boy from his camper unit had just said he had a crush on him. Keith was sort of small for his age. His scruffy black hair was constantly falling in his violet eyes, and his face always carried a neutral expression. It wasn’t that Keith was mad all the time—Shiro had learned that Keith felt a very wide range of emotion, but had trouble expressing it at times. It was something he was still getting used to.

“But… I’m a boy,” Shiro pointed out, fidgeting with the hem of his raglan nervously.  _ And a mermaid. _

Keith shrugged. “You’re pretty,” he replied, as if that made it the most obvious explanation in the world. Shiro’s fingers clenched tighter around his shirt at the blunt compliment.

“My foster mom says sometimes boys can fall in love with other boys, so it’s okay.” Keith added in the same casual monotone.

“I know what gay is,” Shiro replied a little shortly. 

“Okay! Well?” Keith put his hands on his hips, seeming to get a little flustered.

“I don’t know!” Shiro rubbed at his shoulder. Gay or straight didn’t have any weight on his mind right now. His secret went a little deeper than that. “I don’t really think about  _ liking _ anybody. Boys or girls.”

“Maybe we should kiss to see if you like it,” Keith suggested, his own face turning very red at the suggestion. 

“R-right now?” Shiro had turned red long before Keith’s suggestion. 

Keith responded with a vigorous nod before scrunching his eyes closed and jutting his lips forward. Shiro’s heart started to beat faster as he thought it over. This would be his very first kiss. Did he want it to be with Keith? He was waiting. Oh no, he was keeping him waiting. With a small whimper of confusion, Shiro leaned in to meet Keith’s lips with his own.

It was too hard. Shiro overshot it a little and ended up jamming his lips on the corner of Keith’s mouth. Spit smeared across both their faces as they tried to find each other in the kiss. When they pulled away, Keith was frowning as he wiped his mouth with the back of his arm. 

“Maybe we don’t like boys,” Keith sighed in defeat. Shiro frowned and shook his head.

“Can I try again?” he asked with a nervous crack in his voice. “I think I did it wrong.”

Keith nodded, and he kept his face neutral this time. That left Shiro a little more relaxed, and he leaned forward to very sweetly and softly press their lips together. This time, he felt Keith kiss back, and it felt like electricity shot through his heart. It didn’t last very long, but they both pulled away smiling.

“I liked that one,” Keith whispered, his face completely red. Shiro nodded in agreement.

“Are you my boyfriend now?” Shiro asked, feeling hot and cold and tingly at the same time.

“Yeah.”

\--

Throughout the duration of summer camp, Shiro and Keith pledged to be boyfriends with each other. When Shiro stayed out of the lake to hide his fish tail from everyone, Keith stayed out with him. Keith didn’t even know why Shiro wouldn’t go in, but he stayed anyway. He was such a patient and understanding boyfriend that Shiro was starting to feel bad for not telling him the truth. He decided to reveal himself on the very last day of camp. If he was okay with it, he would make sure to keep in touch with Keith. If not, he could just wipe his memory and there would be no harm done. Despite not being raised by merpeople, Shiro had learned how to craft spells with his singing, teaching himself to erase memories or even feelings. But to erase Keith’s memory, he would have to erase his love for Shiro as well.

As Shiro relaxed on the beach, Keith explored the water's edge, looking for little shells and interesting rocks. Every once in a while, he would stuff one in his pocket with a little smile. Shiro wouldn't venture too close to the water's edge for fear of being splashed: turning unexpectedly would be horrible. Instead, he was content to watch Keith until the younger boy returned to sit next to him.

"Find anything good?" Shiro asked, reaching out to take Keith's hand. They were boyfriends, after all. They had to hold hands.

Keith nodded, pulling his collection from his pocket and holding it out for Shiro to see. Shiro's eyes widened when he saw something familiar. Mixed in with the shells and rocks were some of Shiro's scales. He recognized their black velvet color, edged with a hint of dark purple that was really only noticeable in the sunlight. He picked one out of Keith's hand and let it reflect in the sun: being on the shore had dried it out, so it looked like just another shell.

"Isn't it beautiful? I like those shells the best," Keith said as he poked another one. They felt pretty strong when dry. Like armor.

"You think so?" Shiro smiled hopefully.

"Yeah! Do you want one?"

Shiro shook his head and put it back in Keith's hand. "I know where to find them now."

Keith nodded and shoved the shells back in his pocket before laying his head against Shiro's shoulder, looking very content. Shiro let out a relieved sigh. If Keith thought his scales were pretty, then there was hope that he would love his tail.

\--

Shiro lay in the shallows of the secluded pool off the lake trail. It was his favorite place to hide, and he had total privacy. He had told Keith to meet him here so he could finally show him. If Keith accepted him, maybe they could be together forever! Shiro wished he knew more about merpeople. Did they mate for life? He was almost afraid to admit it, but he'd grown to love Keith very much. He wouldn't mind being with him forever.

Shiro heard the rustling of someone walking down the trail, and his stomach squirmed. He dipped under the water until just his head and shoulders were visible. As the sun started to set, the dots of bioluminescence that ran down either side of his tail started to glow brighter and brighter. He shifted his position so that his tail was slightly obscured by the rocks, nervous of what Keith would think.

Finally, Keith appeared from the trail and perked up instantly when he saw Shiro.

"You're in the water!" He sounded delighted as he ran to the bank and set down his bag.

“Yeah, I’m actually a really good swimmer,” Shiro told him, and Keith immediately started taking off his shoes. He jumped right into the water without hesitation and swam up to Shiro. Shiro jerked away in surprise, exposing the lights on his tail. He tried to hide them again, but they caught Keith’s gaze. He’d frozen in place to watch them under the water. Keith’s eyes then lifted to his neck, squinting to see the gills that had opened up there during the change.

“G-get ready,” Shiro stammered. He wanted to bail out, but it was too late. No matter what, Keith would see what he was. He took a few calming breaths as Keith stared at him quizzically and expectantly.

“Show me!” Keith urged excitedly. His eyes were bright and curious. Maybe it would be okay. Shiro nodded in nervous acknowledgement before diving under the surface. Shiro allowed as much of his long, black tail as possible to break the surface so that Keith could see it easily. Even as just a child, Shiro’s flukes were wide and impressive as they broke the surface, a cascade of water rolling off the end of the fin before slapping down on the water again. Shiro circled around, swimming a circle around Keith as he brushed his fins against his legs. 

When Shiro surfaced again, Keith was stumbling backward in shock, his eyes wide. Shiro frowned. Had it gone wrong? Keith crawled out of the water, reaching a hand out in a  _ stop _ motion. It was too weird for Keith, wasn’t it? He’d come on too strong.

“Keith? It’s… It’s just me!” Shiro pleaded, feeling his eyes fill with tears. Keith was scrambling up onto the bank as fast as he could, hand still outstretched to keep him at bay.

“J-Just stay there!” Keith called to him. He didn’t look back as he shoved his feet into his shoes and ran back into the forest, leaving Shiro alone with nothing but the sound of the waterfall.

That was it. It had gone just as badly as it could have. Keith thought he was disgusting and freakish and had run away from him. Shiro glanced behind him, seeing the top of his dorsal fin crest slightly out of the water. Why did he have to be the only merman in the area? He wouldn’t know where to look for others. They were just as elusive to him as they were to humans.

Shiro couldn’t handle any further heartbreak. He would follow through with his plan to erase Keith’s memory. He wished briefly that he could erase his own, but he knew that he would just stupidly fall in love with Keith again if he did. Pulling himself above the surface, Shiro sat on a rock near the waterfall, his tail floating gently in front of him. He rested his hands in his lap, beginning to sing a very sad and eerie song. His voice split through the trees, no doubt catching Keith’s ears as he ran away, wiping his mind of the lonely mer boy. Shiro erased Keith’s love for him, and even the existence of Shiro at all. 

“Shiro?!” An adult man’s voice shouted through the woods. Shiro gasped, recognizing it as the camp director’s voice. He panicked, looking around frantically. There was nowhere in the pool he could hide, and the lights in his tail would give him away. When he looked behind the waterfall, he spotted a wall of heavy rocks blocking off what seemed to be a cave. If he could pull one free, he could wiggle inside to hide. It was his only chance. Shiro grabbed hold of one of the larger boulders and kicked back with his tail as hard as he could. 

Luckily, the boulder came free easily. Unluckily, so did all the others. With the help of the strong water flow, the remaining rocks tumbled down onto each other—and Shiro.

A huge boulder caught his right arm, pinning it just under the water. A human boy would have drowned in moments, but all Shiro could do was flail frantically as he tried to pull himself free. Another rock came down, landing sharply on the bridge of his nose before falling away. Apart from the pain, the water turned red in front of Shiro’s eyes. What if he died here? He kicked his tail as hard as he could, thrashing and stirring up a cloud of dirt. Anything to make himself more visible.

Shiro was starting to feel faint, struggling to keep moving. He wore himself out quickly as blood poured from his face. The sides of his vision turned grey and fuzzy; his stamina drained as he desperately tried to keep struggling.

Then, everything went dark.

\--

When Shiro woke, the morning sun poured in from the infirmary window. He let out a soft groan of pain as the events from the night before played back in his mind. The first pain he remembered was emotional. Then the pain in his arm came next—or… what was left of it. Shiro jerked awake now, feeling an oxygen mask tug him back to the pillow, then he grunted in pain. All his muscles burned from struggling, his chest heavy. He glanced at the bandaged amputation just above the elbow and frowned, feeling a sort of panic start to set in. His arm was gone.

Tears rushed to his eyes, and he couldn’t keep anything in any longer. He let out a sob of distress as all the grief and trauma of the night before stacked up on him. This was too much for a twelve-year-old to handle,even one who had been through as much as Shiro.

“Shhh, I’m sorry! I’m sorry we couldn’t save it.” A soothing tone and a gentle hand reached up to comb through Shiro’s hair. He jumped and looked at the dark-skinned girl who was sitting next to him. He remembered her. This was the camp director’s daughter. She seemed to have been sitting there a while, holding a spray bottle in her lap. The overall dampness Shiro felt must have been from that.

“You gave my father and me a big shock,” she explained. “We’ve never seen… well, look at you.” She gestured to Shiro’s lower half, and he suddenly realized he was still in his mer form. He yelped in surprise, curling his tail up to fold it over itself, but only succeeding in getting it tangled in his bed sheet.

“It’s okay, Shiro! You’re safe, okay?” Allura reached for his webbed hand and held it between her own. “Father is going to take care of you from now on. You don’t have a family, right?”

Shiro shook his head.

“Then I’ll be your sister.”

Shiro automatically smiled tearfully at the idea of having a new family. He tugged his hand away from Allura’s hold to pull the mask from his face.

“Thank you,” his tired voice creaked. He glanced to the spray bottle in her lap. “Why were you spraying me?”

“Oh, well… You’re the first… person like you we’ve met. We weren’t sure if you needed to be wet all the time or something.”

“No, I feel okay if I just drink a lot,” Shiro assured her before catching sight of his amputation again. He let out a groan, feeling like someone dropped ice in his belly.

“We weren’t even able to find it. Luckily, Father’s best friend is one of the most skilled doctors in the area. He’s agreed to be your personal physician, so you don’t have to risk being found out in a hospital.”

“Why would you do that just for me?” Shiro’s forehead crinkled, which made his nose hurt. He crossed his eyes to see the wide white bandage covering the bridge of his nose where he’d been hit.

“Father was actually considering approaching you to adopt you before all this,” Allura said before gesturing to his tail. “Plus, you’re extraordinary!”

“I don’t feel extraordinary,” Shiro moaned, plopping his head back into the pillow. It was nice being somewhere he didn’t have to worry about hiding, and he finally relaxed. It really was a big weight off his shoulders, knowing there was someone who knew his secret and still wanted to take care of him.

Allura shook her head dismissively and sat up to kiss his cheek. “Get some rest.”


	8. A New Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Shiro work through some issues in the rain. They finally get some dang peace and quiet.

It all made sense now. Every question he still had about this silly mermaid hunt were answered right here. It would seem that Shiro was the answer to most of the questions in his life.

“Shiro…” Keith exhaled, relieved just to see him alive. He knelt down as Allura checked him over for injuries. Apart from a little scrape on his arm where he had caught himself in the fall, he seemed fine and Shiro assured her as much.  
  
Shiro was not making eye contact with Keith. He looked absolutely terrified of him, looking like he wanted to crawl deeper into the rocky alcove. 

“Are you okay?” Keith asked, reaching up to feel his forehead. Shiro’s eyes closed at his touch as he relaxed just slightly. His skin felt cold, but Keith wasn’t sure if that was because he was part fish or because of the rain. He had started to shiver, which tipped Keith off that it wasn’t natural.

“You’re freezing cold.” Keith whispered as he scooted in closer to share some of his body heat. Shiro sighed and allowed himself to lean back into Keith’s arms.

“Shiro, why on Earth did you go out alone? It’s a good thing the storm woke us up or you’d have been stuck out here all night!” Allura started to scold as she pulled the staff-issued walkie-talkie from her hip. She pressed the call button on Alfor’s channel and waited for his response.

“What’s wrong, Allura?” Alfor’s voice asked. He sounded like he was already awake, probably due to the storm.

“Father, Shiro’s down,” she replied in tired defeat. “On the lake trail. Keith knows.”

“Any injuries?”

“Nothing apparent. Just a little cold.”

“I’ll be over.”

Allura set her backpack down and rummaged through it until she found a glow stick. She cracked it open and hung it on a tree nearby so that Alfor could see it from the trail.

“Is this… why you don’t like the word ‘boyfriend’?” Keith asked cautiously. He was more afraid that it was simply because he didn’t like him, but he had to know.

“Well… yes,” Shiro admitted, “but this isn’t the first time you wanted to be my boyfriend before finding out what I was.”

Keith recoiled from the bitterness in Shiro’s voice and quirked an eyebrow in confusion, but then a weird feeling came over him, similar to when he found the flat black bead he put on Shiro’s bracelet. A foggy memory came forward. The night by the latrine where he made out with Shiro was not the first time they kissed. A memory of a young boy with a white tuft of hair, leaning in for their first and very sloppy kiss surfaced from somewhere in his mind.

“What are these…?” Keith felt dizzy, like someone had pulled a weight out of his brain. Freed, but didn’t even realize he was restrained till now. “Are these memories?”

Shiro’s brow crinkled. He looked very confused.

“My memory spell is not reversible on humans,” he said with complete certainty.

“Well, I remember kissing you,” Keith said with a little huff. The tension from breakfast was still apparently affecting them.

“Do you also remember running away from me?” Shiro’s tone stung like a terrible insult.

“You know what, Shiro? I don’t!” Keith sat up more, pulling away from the shivering merman, fingers curling into his own hands tightly. “I remember collecting your scales on the beach. I remember staying up all night so I could make a necklace for you out of—what I guess was—your own scales.”

Keith had detached himself entirely from Shiro, crossing his arms. “I’m sorry for something I don’t even remember doing when I was, what? Nine? Ten? You’re the one who wiped my memory, so it’s not like I can speak for myself.” The fact that Shiro was a merman didn’t upset him any slightly, but being manipulated by him did. Keith got to his feet, pointing down at Shiro. 

“And you… You  _ used me _ ! I pined for you for weeks and when I finally get that moment to be intimate with you, you push me away at the last moment.” He threw his arms in the air. “But whatever. You can just wipe my memory again and then I’ll go back to being twitterpated dope around you.”

“Keith…”

“No, Shiro. Yeah, I’m running away again, I guess. This time, it’s not going to be because of your tail.” Keith pushed past Allura, who tried to coax him back with a gentle touch to his arm, but he avoided her and jumped back down onto the trail.

As soon as he made it down, another flash of memory hit him. He remembered Shiro telling him to meet him somewhere special and that he had to show him something important before they could go any further. He remembered seeing a beautiful tail crest out of the water. He remembered being so incredibly delighted that he wanted to go and fetch the necklace he made as soon as possible. He wanted to give Shiro a gift to show him that he accepted him the way he was. He remembered telling Shiro to wait while he ran to get the necklace he’d hidden. Then, he remembered feeling lost. Like walking into a room and not remembering why you went in there.

That must have been where Shiro wiped his memory. Keith felt some of his anger soothe away at the realization. It had all been a misunderstanding between two children.

When Keith came to, the headlights to the camp tractor were in view. Alfor was here. He pulled up next to Keith, who pointed up to the little outcropping.

“He’s up there.” Keith pointed, his dramatic stomp off ruined. He looked back up, able to see Shiro’s tail curl back up over itself. God, he was gorgeous.

Alfor stared at Keith, frowning, “Your eyes are…” 

Keith tilted his head in confusion. “What?”

Alfor shook his head. “Nothing to worry about. Keith, I need your help to get Shiro into the tractor. He won’t be able to change back until he’s a little more dry.”

Keith sighed heavily as he nodded in compliance. So much for running away. He would have regretted it anyway, he supposed. You didn’t just dump mermen.

Shiro looked awful. His skin was pale from the cold, his expression blank as he looked down at his lap. He seemed sicker, more limp. A wave of guilt rushed over Keith, but he didn’t say anything as he helped Alfor lift him into the tractor trailer. 

Keith sat in the trailer bed with Shiro to make sure he didn't fall out and looked him over, unable to take his eyes off the tail.  _ Shiro was a merman. _ The words repeated over and over in his head, and he looked up at Shiro's face, guilt crawling through his stomach. Shiro still refused to meet Keith’s gaze, his grey eyes focused on the trees as they passed. As Keith’s eyes slid up the line of Shiro’s neck, he saw Shiro swallow. It looked like he was trying to hold back tears as the surfaces of his eyes reflected back the glow of his own tail. Keith reached out, hooking his pinky under the friendship bracelet on Shiro's wrist. He tugged the hand into his lap and went to lace their fingers, but realized the stretchy material in his mechanical hand had expanded into a sophisticated webbing that matched the webbing on his flesh hand. 

"You're magnificent," Keith whispered, lifting his eyes to try and catch Shiro's gaze. Shiro's eyes finally moved up to settle on Keith, expression unchanging.

"I'm sorry," Keith added. "I have a lot to talk to you about, but now probably isn't the best time."

Shiro's lips twitched upward just a little. "Kind of an understatement." His broad chest rose in a sigh before he added, "I'm sorry too."

"It's... understandable." Keith supplied. "I'd like to start over if you want." 

"I'm not sure." When Shiro caught the expression on Keith’s face, his eyes widened. "N-Not because of you! You're—wonderful, Keith. You're right, though. I have a lot to figure out."

"You're still debating erasing my memory again."

Shiro didn't answer right away before reluctantly nodding. 

"I really don't want to lose my memory of you," Keith pleaded, "You can't just hit the reset button every time you mess up. Humans don't get that luxury." Thank goodness they didn't. 

"It's not for me, Keith. I've been ripping your heart out for years and you didn't even know." 

Keith shook his head. "We were kids, Shiro." He took both Shiro’s hands now, rubbing his thumb over the slick webbing between Shiro's thumb and index finger. "Shiro, erasing my memory is just going to curse me to be in pain for the rest of my life. No matter how many times you wipe it, no matter how sure you are that it's for good, it won't matter, ‘cause every single time you do, I'm just going to end up coming back to you. I did it twice, and I'll keep doing it till my body wears out. I'll fall in love with you a million times because my stupid ass won't get the hint."

Shiro allowed a little smile to appear on his face as he squeezed Keith's hand. "I still... I still want to think about it. Not just about that, but a lot of things."

Keith nodded, "If you don't want to be with me, I understand, but... at least let me keep my memory of you. Allow me to suffer so I can at least think about you." 

Shiro shrugged. "Keith, I don't know that much about merpeople. I'm the only one I know of."

"Oh." Keith hadn't thought of that possibility.

"You're the only human who's found out since Alfor took me in. So I don't really know how to exist as a merman with like... a boyfriend."

Keith perked up. He had said it! "I can be patient."

At least, he could try. 

\--

Down at the staff lodge, Keith dozed on the little couch in the main living area as Shiro got cleaned and patched up in the infirmary. Allura decided to give them a little privacy and went back to the camper unit to let everyone know that Shiro was okay. She gave Keith’s shoulder a supportive squeeze before she left. 

After a few minutes, Shiro stepped out in human form, wearing a fresh clean set of clothes. Keith was so sleepy that, for a moment, he felt like he’d dreamed everything. Shiro looked absolutely exhausted from keeping himself up most of the night, and Keith offered a sympathetic smile as Shiro tiredly shuffled over to him and plopped down on the couch next to him. Shiro felt nice and warm now that he was dry, and he nudged himself under Keith’s arm. Keith put his arm around him as Shiro cuddled right up against his chest. Keith wasn’t sure if Shiro was in it for the affection or the warmth, but he was glad either way. He held him as they both yawned before nuzzling the top of his head.  


“I wanna figure us out,” Shiro murmured, so softly that Keith barely heard it. “Because I think I love you.”

Keith immediately woke fully, heart pounding. Shiro must have been able to feel it on his cheek, because he laughed.

“I… Let me get back to you on that.” Keith admitted softly, but affectionately. Shiro nodded. 

“That’s fair enough.” He sat up a little and tapped his hand to Keith’s chest above his thudding heart. “This thing is speaking for you.”

Keith gently shoved him over and shook his head in exasperation. Shiro plopped over on his side and reached for him, and Keith laid down and allowed himself to be spooned, starting to doze off.

“You wanna sleep here?” Keith asked. “Or in your bed in the cabin?”

“Hmm,” Shiro yawned, draping his arms around Keith’s waist. “I prefer it here.”

Keith silently agreed. It was finally a truly private place to share their affections, and the couch was big enough to hold both of them comfortably. Not to mention, falling asleep in Shiro’s arms felt like heaven. Keith closed his eyes, feeling Shiro’s hand reach for his own.

Their bracelets rubbed against each other, and Keith laughed softly.


	9. Mystery Solved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Shiro do some thinking. Keith takes Shiro’s fish stick for a spin. Pidge finds a new cryptid fixation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has mer dick. If you don't care for that, catch the mention of condoms and skip to the epilogue. 
> 
> There's notes and acknowledgements at the end of the chapter and enjoy!

After a small nap, Shiro and Keith walked back to the unit together just as the sun started to peek over the hillside. With a little coaxing, Keith convinced Shiro to get a proper rest. He could handle the unit for the day on his own. Besides, it would give them both time apart to think. While Keith absolutely accepted Shiro, learning that your boyfriend was a merman was still a lot to process.

At breakfast, Pidge set down a new notebook full of photos and notes.

“What’s that? More mermaid stuff?” Lance leaned over the table to look.

“The mermaid search sort of turned into a dud.” Pidge admitted in defeat. Keith felt a little guilt that he would never be able to tell Pidge the actual truth.

“So what’s next?” Keith asked, picking up a photo of a blurry dot in the sky.

“ _Aliens_ ,” Pidge whispered through an excited grin.

“See, now that stuff freaks me out,” Hunk said, picking up another photo and looking at it with Lance. “Like, there’s so many planets and stuff. It’s basically impossible for there not to be aliens.”

“Maybe the aliens are closer than you think,” Lance said in a spooky voice as he wiggled his fingers, eyes fixated on Keith for a moment.

“Why did you look at me when you said that?” Keith asked, frowning.

“I dunno. Why did you get so defensive?” Lance countered.

“I’m _not_ an alien!”

Lance narrowed his eyes, dropping his voice. “ _That’s just what an alien would say.”_

Keith decided to ignore him as Allura sat down with them and exchanged a little smile with Keith,  expression exhausted and worried.

“He'll be okay.” Keith assured. This actually seemed to help her a lot, because her face relaxed.

“Are you… okay? With everything?” Allura seemed to be trying to gauge if he would run off again. Keith nodded immediately.

“I actually need your help.”

\--

Keith sat with Allura during craft time. Since Shiro was still resting, they combined their units so everyone could watch out for each other’s campers.

“Shiro’s spell is wearing off,” Keith told her quietly enough that Pidge and the others couldn’t hear. “I’m starting to remember more details about what actually happened.”

“I heard parts of it last night,” Allura replied, watching him curiously. “You didn’t actually run away?”

Keith shook his head. “I was running to get a necklace I made for him, but I’m having trouble remembering where that is. Have you ever seen one made from Shiro’s scales?”

“I’d remember if I had,.” Allura said with an apologetic shrug.

“It’s okay.” Keith replayed the memory of running to grab it before his mind was erased, but it always got hazy. Maybe he should have been trying to recall the day he made it. He’d taken the shells and scales he found and laced them onto a cord he took from the craft cupboard. He remembered having to hide it in order to keep it from Shiro, but…

Keith gasped and stood up, glancing around the cabins in their unit. He wiggled out his picnic table and jogged over to the cabin he had stayed in as a little boy. Heading around to the back, he got to his hands and knees, quickly scraping away the dead leaves around the small hole in back that lead to the crawl space between the ground and the floor of the cabin. The last time he had come here, he was a much smaller person. Pulling his phone out, he turned on the lock screen to shine a little light underneath.

The way Shiro’s scales, hanging from one of the cabin’s support structures, reflected back even faint light was unmistakeable. Shifting his position, Keith reached inside and grasped at the necklace, feeling his fingers wrap around it. He tugged it out with a grin and got to his feet before jogging back over toward the picnic tables.

“Did you find it?” Allura sat up to see.

Proudly, Keith opened up his hand, but only crumbled debris sat in his palm. He frowned and let out a defeated sigh. It was no wonder. Ten years of winters freezing and unfreezing them wouldn’t exactly strengthen them. At least he had proof that he’d made _something_.

“You can always get new ones,” a very familiar voice said from behind him.

Keith whirled around to see Shiro beaming tiredly at him. He looked better, now; refreshed, and face once again a healthy color. He seemed different, too: while he’d always been a merman, now that Keith _knew_ , he started to appreciate the things he didn’t notice before. He saw the power in Shiro’s arms he used for swimming and maneuvering around on land without legs. He saw the very faint creases on his neck where gills grew in when he got too wet. He saw the webbing between his thumb and index finger that was a bit wider than anyone else’s. He saw the ocean in his eyes and and shore in his smile. He saw Shiro, the merman, the boy who knew how to sew and break his own heart. He saw the man he loved.

“How are you feeling?” Keith shot him a smile of overjoyed relief.

“Better, now that I’ve had time to rest and think,” Shiro admitted. Keith tried not to look quite so hopeful. Catching sight of his expression, Shiro leaned in a little closer, resting a hand on Keith’s shoulder and whispering, “Tonight, would you want to talk some things out?”

 Keith had to mentally restrain himself from leaning into him right there. “Please.”

\--

After lights out, Keith headed for the waterfall with Shiro. On the way, they talked about normal things, like what their unit had done that morning while Shiro was resting. They talked about where they lived, and how Keith got by with government housing, and how being at summer camp was a nice escape when his apartment was so lonely. Shiro offered to talk to Alfor about a place to live, since Keith already knew his secret, but Keith admitted that he would have to think about it. That was the only part of the conversation that was even remotely mermaid related.

When they reached the pool, Keith climbed over the rocks to get into the cave behind the falls. Shiro followed behind him, careful not to get splashed. Keith turned on his lantern once they were hidden and leaned up to tentatively kiss his lips. Shiro returned the kiss eagerly, if not a little nervously. Keith moved his hand up to Shiro’s chest, feeling his heart beating rapidly.

“You nervous?” Keith stroked the back of his hand along Shiro’s cheek, who tilted his head to nuzzle it.

Shiro nodded, eyes crinkling in an appreciative smile. “Kind of.”

Keith smiled lightly before turning around. “I won’t watch.”

There was a beat of hesitation before Keith heard the rustling of clothes and a loud splash of water outside the cave. He turned around and walked to the mouth, looking around the waterfall to see Shiro’s glowing tail uncurl and fan out under the surface. Keith’s breathing hitched at the sight, and he eagerly kicked his shoes and yanked his shirt off. Shiro surfaced as Keith jumped in for a cannonball, narrowly missing him as he heard Shiro shout with laughter. When Keith reached the top, there was a kiss waiting for him, and he wrapped his arms around Shiro’s neck and returned it. Keith fully intended to explore every inch of Shiro, first running his finger over the shell of his newly elongated ears. Shiro laughed and shivered at the touch.

“They help me sense vibration in the water,” Shiro explained though his giggle.

Next, he touched Shiro’s gills. The skin had parted neatly when he transformed and Keith very carefully trailed his finger underneath the lip of tissue that protected it. Shiro twitched, letting out a grunt of surprise, and Keith jerked his hand back, afraid he’d accidentally hurt him.

“I’m sorry!”

Shiro’s face was red as he buried his nose in the crook of Keith’s shoulder, and Keith realized it was sensitive.

“Wait, is that ticklish?” Keith asked with a sly smile.

“Not _ticklish_ , exactly,” Shiro whispered as he kissed along the bottom of Keith’s jaw, down his neck, and onto his collarbone. Keith felt himself grow hot, and he was glad they were in the water. He wanted to explore these new parts of Shiro’s body very badly with more than just casual affection.

“Can I see your fins?” Keith’s tone was hesitant, but curiosity won out.

Shiro responded with an eager nod, pulling away from Keith so he could swim up onto the bank. Keith watched as his fins lapped the surface of the water, then reached a hand out to feel one of those long swallowtails glide over his palm.

Shiro laid back on the bank, letting his tail float slowly in the water. Keith sat down beside him, sticking his feet in the shallows next to him, running his fingers over one of the bioluminescent spots on Shiro’s side.

“I thought only bottom dwelling fish glowed like this.” Keith said with a curious tilt to his head. All those fish were scary looking or hideous. Shiro obviously didn’t fall into either of those categories.

“I don’t always glow,” Shiro explained. “It started happening right around the time I hit puberty. Coran thinks it might be a… a mating display.”

Keith’s expression lit up as he restrained a nervous laugh. “You only light up when I’m around?”

Shiro nodded. “That night you saw me in the lake after the stakeout? It almost blew my cover. I thought for sure you knew it was me.”

Keith had moved on to the long pectoral fins that hung from Shiro’s hips.“Looking back, I had an inkling, even if I didn’t want to admit that merpeople were real. I know that I wished it was you.”

“You wished I was a mermaid?”

“Not specifically.” Keith pulled one of the fins open, fanning it out wide. “But if it had to be _someone_ , I’m glad it’s you.”

Something in Shiro’s posture relaxed visibly. Keith met his gaze and slid up the bank to return his attention to Shiro’s face. Shifting his weight, he pulled himself onto Shiro’s lap, and a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist. Keith leaned in to kiss him again, combing his wet fingers through Shiro’s white bangs.

“Shiro,” Keith held his cheek as he nipped at Shiro’s earlobe, “I’m falling for you.”

Shiro's smile was automatic and wide as he let out a little laugh. “I already fell.”

“Hook, line, and sinker?”

“That’s not funny.” Shiro mock-glared, still laughing. He pulled Keith tightly against his chest and Keith happily settled down into his arms.

“Question,” Shiro began.

“What’s up?”

“Would it kill the mood to tell you I brought lube and condoms?”

Keith sprung out of Shiro’s arms and onto the bank as he jogged back over to the cave. Shiro looked very confused and bewildered until he heard Keith shout.

“Which pocket?”

\--

Keith’s hands explored everywhere they hadn’t been allowed before. He ran his fingers over the scaly patch of skin that Shiro tried to hide the night by the latrine. Now Shiro was arching into his touch like he craved it.

Keith caught sight of Shiro’s dick in the water and stared. It had slid from a sheath that parted in his scales right where his crotch would be as a human. While Keith checked him out, Shiro took that opportunity to slide a condom on quickly. Keith couldn’t help but notice how good he was at putting one on a cock that was not exactly human-shaped, and he smirked. Dirty bird.

“It’s only fun if we’re both naked,” Shiro coaxed, webbed hands sliding the shorts down Keith’s waist and slowly moving over the curve of his ass. Keith arched, willing under those hands, as he reached back to grab the fins at Shiro’s hips. Shiro grunted, but this earned Keith a grind against his backside. Keith’s groin tightened at the anticipation of being taken by the guy he’d been wanting all summer—and the mystery and excitement of having sex with a real merman didn’t hurt, either, fueling his arousal and leaving him hard.

“You’re so relaxed,” Shiro murmured happily, moving his prosthetic hand down to slide up the underside of Keith’s growing erection. “Oh, except for this.”

Keith snorted in nervous laughter, tilting his head back to kiss the side of Shiro’s face. Shiro nuzzled at him as best he could from that angle and pressed Keith against the rocky wall that led up to the cave. Keith grabbed hold, grunting as his hardening dick rubbed against the cold stone, but Shiro reached between and continued to fondle and play with it while pressing his own into Keith’s back.

Keith let out a loud gasp of surprise as Shiro’s full size grew apparent, bigger than anything Keith had ever taken. Not especially thick, but what it lacked in girth, it made up for in length. Shiro made love the same way he made out. He was strong and deliberate with each movement he made, but also very gentle. Keith felt like at any given moment, he could be overpowered by the webbed hands that were sliding over his waist from behind. It was exhilarating.

“You okay?” Shiro checked on him between kisses to his shoulder.

Keith nodded vigorously, even as he swallowed anxiously.  But he wasn’t going to stop now. “It’s… It’s big.”

Shiro laughed, bracing his real arm to the middle of Keith’s back, pinning him to the rock wall as he rubbed himself between between Keith’s cheeks. The lubricated tip of Shiro’s cock prodded him for entry, and Keith automatically lifted himself. He spread his legs, lust sparking through him, and Shiro took the cue, taking Keith’s hips and lifting him slightly to better align with him. The ease with which Shiro could move Keith in the water was just frightening enough to be exciting.

“Is it too big?” Shiro checked again, pressing his thumbs into Keith’s back as he massaged his hips.

Keith shook his head, letting out a groan of want. “Get it in. I want it deep,” he demanded, draping over the rock wall with crossed arms. What did he have to do to make Shiro _get on with it?_

Suddenly, he felt the prod of Shiro’s dick at his asshole before the merman pushed himself inside. Keith let out a cry of surprise, curling his toes in the sandy floor of the pool. Slowly, Shiro eased himself in deeper as Keith opened his mouth in a quiet whine of ecstasy. For a moment, Keith couldn’t move, totally overwhelmed. He shifted up on tip-toe and Shiro’s hands guided him up before pulling him back down slowly onto his cock. It filled him and finally butted up against his prostate.

“M-mmh! Ghd… Shiro,” Keith sputtered, losing his footing for a moment before he caught himself. He felt Shiro’s hands tighten at his waist to keep him steady, and a long, heavy tail curled around Keith’s legs, giving him a little extra support as Shiro began to thrust into him. Keith closed his eyes and whined again as the feeling of being totally surrounded by the merman left him leaking, even as the water quickly swept away any evidence.

“Feels… good,” Shiro whispered into Keith’s neck between little kisses. Once he found Keith’s sweet spot, he adjusted the angle of his thrusts, hitting his mark easily every time. Keith was already growing to a climax when he felt a warm hand around his erection. Already?

“S...Slow down!” He pleaded, wanting this moment to last longer. He tugged harder on Shiro’s fins, but it only seemed to encourage him. Shiro rubbed the webbing between his thumb and index finger up and down Keith’s dick, drawing forth a whine of pleasure.

“Shiro…? Shiro, I’m clos—”

Keith was interrupted by the throbbing heat of Shiro ejaculating and the sound of his grunt of satisfaction. He heard Shiro start to apologize, but the sensation was enough to finish the job. A creamy white cloud flooded into the water ahead of him as he came, body twitching with pleasure as he leaned into Shiro’s chest. Those toned arms held him up as Shiro slowly withdrew, nuzzling into him. He panted audibly, a wide, satisfied smile stretching his lips, curls of hair stuck to his forehead in patches of sweat. Shiro followed up with a series of loving kisses over Keith’s back and over his ears.

“Well,” Keith sighed, turning around in Shiro’s arms so he could drape his own around Shiro’s neck, “that was fun.”

Shiro nodded, leaning in to kiss his lips. “I’ll admit I’m a little rusty.”

Keith returned the kiss before patting his cheek. “I’ll help you practice any time you like.”

 

**Epilogue**

The last day of camp had always been a sad one for Keith, and being a counselor didn’t change that at all. He didn’t look forward to going back to his empty apartment—especially since it meant that he would be living apart from Shiro. Sure, they had Skype, but he would miss his touch.

Shiro spent the whole day sitting as close to Keith as possible, bumping his leg against Keith’s, and nuzzling his shoulder at every free moment. It would have been extremely cute if it wasn’t so sad.

“I wanna take you home with me,” Shiro’s muffled voice whined as he buried his face in between Keith’s shoulders. Keith had decided to sit in Shiro’s lap after lunch, watching as their unit ran off the extra energy in the field.

“I would love to go home with you,” Keith admitted with a small sigh. He’d have to find a real job as soon as he got back. That wouldn’t be fun.

“You should! Alfor wouldn’t mind.”

“I couldn’t—Shiro, I can’t just drop in like that. I don’t even have a job.”

Shiro shrugged, draping his arms in Keith’s lap. “All the more reason to move now. It’s the perfect time to transition. Besides, now that you _know_ , Alfor will want to keep an eye on you.”

Keith leaned back against Shiro as he thought about it.

“I promise to feed you and play with you and take you for walks,” Shiro teased. Keith whacked his thigh.

“Hey, none of the kinky stuff in front of the campers. Save that for when we get home,” Keith warned, lips curving up playfully. Shiro craned his neck to kiss Keith’s cheek.

“Is that a yes?”

Keith smiled, looking down at his lap for a few moments before nodding vigorously. He turned back toShiro and grinned.

“Yes!”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I had so much fun writing this! Definitely one of my favorite projects.  
> Keep an eye out for the sequel! Coming soon when I feel like writing again: The Alien at Camp Marmora
> 
> Black Magic fans hold on! It's been a while since I updated. I know this. The last update I think was even before season 2? Maybe? IT'S BEEN A WHILE. Anyway, that's going to get an overhaul to better match the current VLD story. It'll take some time.


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